UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili is looking to squeeze one more fight in before the end of the year.
Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his belt against Cory Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the UFC 320 co-main event on Oct. 4 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, marking his third title defense of the year.
If he gets past Sandhagen, “The Machine” already has his sights set on the next contender – and he’s ready to face him quickly.
“I don’t overlook Cory Sandhagen. It’s going to be a tough fight. But God willing, I’m going to do my best to win this fight, and if I win, I want a quick turnaround and I want to fight in December,” Dvalishvili said on the “Full Send Podcast.”
“I will ask the UFC for a favor to give me another fight in December or even November. I don’t care. Petr Yan is the clear contender right now. He deserves it. I don’t want to make him wait too long. I can take a quick turnaround and fight him, and after we will see who will be the next contender.”
Dvalishvili smothered Yan (19-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in their first fight in March 2023, in which he attempted a record-breaking 49 takedowns en route to a suffocating decision win. He admits it was a difficult fight to game plan for.
“Every fight I have a different plan, but against Petr Yan, I don’t have a plan because I was scratching my head: How am I going to fight him?,” Dvalishvili said. “He has good takedown defense, he’s a great striker and he’s a dog. I was like, ‘How am I going to fight this motherf*cker?’ So the day before, when we made weight, he pushed me. Then my mind opened. I’m like: I’m going to teach you.”
Dvalishvili, 34, doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.
“My goal is to just do my best,” Dvalishvili said. “I don’t overthink that, but I want to just do my best, fight as much as I can, and win as much as I can. I want more wins and more fights. My goal is to fight until I’m 50 years old in the UFC. I hope I can be champion at that time, but it’s impossible. I’m 34 now. Sixteen more years staying champion – it’s impossible.”
