Merab Dvalishvili Exclusive UFC 333 Interview

We recently caught up with Stake Ambassador and UFC legend, Merab Dvalishvili, as he looks to regain his UFC World Bantamweight Championship at UFC 333 on Saturday 24th October.

Merab spoke about his 10-month lay off and how he’s been staying active in that time, as well as what we can expect when he steps in to face Petr Yan for their epic trilogy bout.

Here at Stake.com, we offer the best UFC betting odds on Stake Sportsbook, as well as free live streams of all the MMA action. As proud sponsors of the UFC, we also offer major promotions like our UFC Split Decision Insurance.

How has training camp been?

Training camp is great, I feel good, everything is going good. I’m ready to go, can’t wait to fight.

What's it been like preparing for the same fight a third time, does that make training easier or more difficult?

Fighting against Petr Yan is hard but I’ve had good preparation and trained super hard. I’ve fought him two times already, but this is another fight. He is the best in the world now and I’m preparing very well.

It’s been ten months since the fans have seen you fight, how has that been for you to have that time off?

Actually, this time I’ve had off is good now because I guess I needed this time to prepare and realize what I need to do against him. I guess two months between fights wasn't enough when I fought him last time.

I defended my belt against Cory Sandhagen and Cory has a different style and it was no problem. I pretty much fought with the same style, same game plan and I didn't change anything in my preparation or camp and I just went and fought Yan and I guess it didn't work for me that time. But this time I had more time, I was staying busy and was wrestling in RAF. I’ve realised a lot and now I have a good training campaign with good sparring partners and coaches around me. Everything is going well and like I said before, I used to train hard and now im training smarter.

Did you feel you needed the rest after such a busy year?

No, I was ready to fight in March again, I was hoping because I know they tell us our fight won’t be in the White House in June and I will fight before that. Did I need a rest? No, but I have enjoyed the time off and I guess the time off has been good because I've had more time to realise what I need to do in my next fight against Yan.

In a big fight like this I guess I need a couple months to prepare, it’s not about rest - I don’t mind working harder, I never complain. I'm a hard worker and in these 10 months I was still working hard as I said I was at the RAF, I was wrestling and I never stopped training.

How difficult was it mentally to be such a dominant champion then losing to Yan in the last fight. Has it been difficult for you to react to that or were you straight back to normal?

To lose the belt and not be champion anymore wasn’t difficult, I’m a fighter and I want to win every fight whether it’s a title fight or not. I’ve lost the belt, but no big deal. I knew there was a risk for me to come back in two months but I took the risk and yes, I lost it but it’s fine.

Aside from the belt, I know I’m better than Yan but he beat me on the day. I want to fix that in the next fight and I’ll make sure I’ll beat him. I’m going to fight for the belt again and I’m going to get it back and it’ll be even more sweet.

Do you think if you do beat Yan soon that cements you as the greatest bantamweight of all time?

I don't think about that, it’s up to you the people to argue who’s the greatest. I don’t care, I just want to win against the best guys in the world and I’m fighting the best in the world right now. I’m focusing on my next fight and I'm just focusing on fighting the best.

There’s a lot of good fighters in your division, if you do win the belt - who would you like to fight next?

Yes It’s easy to say it now, but god willing when I win against Petr I will fight Song Yadong next. We’ve never fought each other and he’s the next best I think, we all know he has knockout power. It’ll be a great fight, a risky and challenging one but I’m ready for it.

Did you see Payton Talbott vs Deiveson Figueiredo?

Yes, It was impressive. Talbott is a great fighter and he’s getting better and better. He’s tall and young, fights at a good level and I would like to fight him one day.

After the fight Talbott called out Sean O’Malley - how do you think that fight would go?

It would be a good fight of course, but I don't know who will win, they’re both very talented. Sean and Payton both have different styles but both are really good.

Just on O’Malley - do you think the UFC wants him to be the next title challenger and if so, will you welcome another fight with him?

I need to fight whoever the UFC will offer me, I’m not making fights. Yes I can say like I did last time that Petr deserves to fight me. If the UFC agrees with me, they will offer it. So first I have to win the belt back and after that, whoever the UFC gives me - I will fight next.

You said before you’re training a bit smarter now, if you do win the belt do you want to go back to being how active you were or will it be every six months or once a year when fans see you?

Yes I want to be active again as this is what I love doing. I’m always training anyway, so I want to stay active.

So there’s been no stopping in your training, it’s been ‘the machine’ non-stop in the last 10 months?

As I said I don’t want to stop, I’ve never stopped and I don't want to. The only hard part about fighting is cutting weight, other than that I’m always in camp.

You mentioned your stint with the RAF a couple times, you had some great fights there - what did it mean to fight in Georgia in front of your fans?

That was amazing, I haven't fought in Georgia in the last 15 years I think. For me to go back and have the entire home crowd supporting me was a highlight, it was such a unique moment and it’s one of the best memories in my career.

How does that memory compare with winning UFC gold?

Oh winning the gold was 100x bigger, because the fight [in Georgia] I knew I was going to win but the belt - oh my god that was crazy.

Maybe if you get to win the UFC gold in Georgia, that’ll tip it over?

Oh yes absolutely!

On Henry Cejudo, you had some great fights against him - he had a boxing match last week which he won. Is this something you would consider once you retire in MMA?

So when I retire from MMA, I will still fight MMA, I already had boxing matches before. I had four amateur boxing fights before I started fighting professionally in MMA. Boxing is hard, even if you do it a lot. I can do MMA, I can do grappling or jiu jitsu but not boxing - but never say never. I’m a UFC fighter and I want to be fighting until I’m 50 years old.

We all know what your fighting style is, we know what you want to do but no one can stop it. Is that the same game plan vs Yan - aggressive wrestling from the off?

I want to keep it simple, I want to break his face and try to knock him out. Last time it didn’t work out but I think this time it will.

What is your partnership like with the Stake brand?

Working with Stake has been amazing because they’re so professional. They're great people, very supportive and I’m very grateful to work with Stake. This is the greatest sponsor I’ve ever had and I‘m really grateful for it.