‘I Knocked Myself Out!’ All Play, No Finish, No Problem For Merab

Merab Dvalishvili is as good as it gets at Bantamweight.

The Georgian sensation has become more of a fan favorite after recent victories over Petr Yan, and more so Henry Cejudo, but that hasn’t come from his finishing ability. However, Dvalishvili claims there’s a reason for nine of the 10 wins in his current stretch of success to have gone to the judges’ scorecards.

Dvalishvili, 33, holds the record for longest winning streak in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight history but got off to a rough start in the promotion. “The Machine” lost his UFC debut via split decision against Frankie Saenz before a unique third round guillotine submission loss to Ricky Simon in his sophomore appearance. Dvalishvili appeared to have the fight won until the final minute, which led to his downfall.

“My second fight, I was [fighting a] very tough guy, Ricky Simon,” Dvalishvili said on Bradley Martyn’s Raw Talk (h/t MMA Junkie) “He was good everywhere, and I was trying to finish him and then I was going, and going, and punching him, and then I even dropped him, [tried to] knock him out. I tried some submission. Nothing was working, but I was winning the fight. It was one minute left and I take him down, I make the decision that I’m going to take him down and finish on top. And when I lift and when I jump, I hit my head to the floor.

“I knocked myself out, and at that time, he grabbed my neck and tried to choke me out on top,” he continued. “I don’t tap. I don’t sleep. I was still fighting, but referee say, ‘Oh, he was in and out [of consciousness].’ They give him technical TKO or something. After that, I make decision, like, you know what? I’m going to take people down and I’m going to have fun with it. I’m not going to chase the finish, and I’m not going to risk. After that, I became more smart fighter. Before, I used to be wild. But now, I play with my opponents.”

As the No. 1 contender in the division, Dvalishvili now expects to challenge for gold in his next outing against the champion, Sean O’Malley. It’s just a matter of when.