A UFC Hall of Famer thinks Merab Dvalishvili should not enter the octagon early in 2026. Dvalishvili, who has been nominated as Fighter of the Year by major MMA outlets, successfully defended his UFC bantamweight gold three times in 2025 against notable opponents Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley, and Cory Sandhagen.
In December at UFC 323, ‘The Machine’ wanted to create history by successfully defending his belt four times in one year.
He took on Petr Yan in a rematch and lost by unanimous decision. It just wasn’t the Georgian’s night in the Octagon.