Merab Dvalishvili credits Aljamain Sterling for development after UFC Rio Rancho win

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – Merab Dvalishvili beat Casey Kenney with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN+ 25 in Rio Rancho, N.M.

Take a look inside the fight with Dvalishvili, who picked up his third straight win after dropping his first two fights in the UFC.

Result: Merab Dvalishvili def. Casey Kenney via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 29-28)
Updated records: Dvalishvili (10-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC), Kenney (13-2-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC)
Key stat: Dvalishvili landed a dozen takedowns in the fight and outstruck Kenney 136-38.

Dvalishvili on the fight’s key moment

“My first UFC fight, I was sick with the flu and lost – but it’s OK. The second fight, I lost because of the judges – it was a bad decision. Now I have three wins in a row. I have my groove, and I keep winning because I train with the best team, Serra Longo, and I have the best sparring partners. My team gives me so much motivation. I never stop training. I’m always ready for a fight. I want to stay busy and keep fighting.”

Dvalishvili on training with Aljamain Sterling

“I train my jiu-jitsu with Matt Serra, and they have great black belts there, so I was very prepared. My main training partner is Aljamain Sterling. He made me like this. Years ago, when I was an amateur, ‘Aljo’ made me his punching bag, and now we have great sparring. I owe him so much.”

Dvalishvili on what he wants next

“I want to keep busy, I can fight every month, every two months, I just want to be busy and be a fulltime fighter. I’m ready for the best guys and just want to represent my team and my country.”

To hear more from Dvalishvili, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.