Even after securing the signature victory of his career to date,
Merab
Dvalishvili made one thing clear: He has no interest in
fighting friend and teammate Aljamain
Sterling.
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“Whenever [Sterling] decides to go up in weight class … I will
fight for the title,” Dvalishvili said in the Octagon following a
win over Petr Yan in
the UFC Fight Night 221 headliner. “Of course I want to be
champion, and now I [proved] it again … I am hungry.”
In most cases, Dvalishvili’s performance against Yan would solidify
him as the bantamweight division’s No. 1 contender. However,
Sterling still reigns atop the division, though that could change
following his scheduled clash with Henry
Cejudo in the UFC 288 main event. If Sterling defends the
crown, Dvalishvili might have to explore other options.
However, UFC president Dana White doesn’t think it’s in
Dvalishvil’s best interest to avoid a fight with Sterling.
“You know, back in the early days, the camps were so small, you
didn’t have a lot of different options. So, we had a lot of these
guys saying, ‘Oh, he’s my friend, he’s my friend.’ You can still be
friends and want what your friend has, you know what I mean?” White
said at a post-fight press conference following the Power Slap 1
finale. “It would be a really bad idea for Merab to go down that
path.”
After his win over Yan, Dvalishvili floated the possibility of
moving to flyweight if Sterling continues to reign at 135
pounds.
“It will be a tough cut, but it’s possible,” Dvalishvili said at
the UFC Fight Night 221 post-fight press conference. “Right now,
I’m comfortable at 135, and I don’t want to make any changes right
now. It’s possible, because I cut only 20 pounds. I do my old style
where I don’t do hot tub, I don’t water load, I just do my thing,
and I make weight. It’s possible for me to make 125, but I don’t
see why I should do it now.
“I’ll fight anybody. I want to be busy and I will fight anybody,”
he continued. “Whoever UFC chooses me to fight. I don’t have any
problem. This is a good problem to have – to best friends and
teammates. My best friend is champion, and I’m one of the top
[fighters]. We are cleaning the division. That’s a good
feeling.”
White, meanwhile, warned that waiting might not pay off for
Dvalishvili in the long run.
“Does Merab want a shot at the title or would Merab rather have
people under him jump over him, and him have to take on all these
different tough guys, when he’s not getting a title shot when he’s
next in line for it?” White said. “That’s a personal decision that
he needs to make. If that’s what he wants to do, I can tell you how
that story ends, and it’s not a good ending to that story. He’s a
big boy, he can figure that out on his own.”