The friend and compatriot of Ilia Topuria, Merab Dvalishvilimanaged to retain the belt in UFC 311. The Georgian took an exciting fight by unanimous decision by beating the Dagestani Umar Nurmagomedov. Khabib’s cousin suffered his first professional defeat when he could not cope with the pace set by his rival.
The fight started well for Umar, who In the first round he even managed to stun Merab. He looked a little smaller in size, but somewhat faster than the Georgian. In the second round the dynamic was similar, with the Dagestani taking part in the most relevant actions.
Change of course
Things changed radically in the third round. Dvalishvili saw that the fight was slipping away and hit the accelerator. Until then, it seems that he had gone with the handbrake on and that he respected his rival too much. Now once it was released, Nurmagomedov began to have a bad time. He began taking significant hits, failing to take down, and becoming overwhelmed by Dvalishvili’s strength.
In the fourth round something happened that would also mark the fight. Nurmagomedov began to lose gas while his rival seemed inexhaustible. It became increasingly difficult for him to defend takedowns and, in fact, he ended up on the canvas several times. Dvalishvili began to look like a winner and made his rival hesitate.
In the fifth round the Dagestani was almost a corpse and the Georgian was still at cruising speed. The die was cast and Dvalishvili only had to manage his victory which, if more ambitious, could have ended in a KO or submission. The truth is that the Georgian did an excellent performance.
Given the proximity to Merab, Ilia Topuria wanted to echo his victory and he has posted on his social networks a photo of the defender of the bantamweight belt where he says: “The Machine. “Nothing more to say.” Given the closeness with Merab, Ilia Topuria wanted to echo his victory and posted a photo of the defender of the bantamweight belt on her social networks where she says: “The Machine. “Nothing more to say.” Furthermore, in X he wanted to make it clear that he believes Georgian wrestling is better than Dagestani: “Merab, my brother, what a fighter you are! You make us feel very proud. This is what happens when the Dagestani struggle meets the Georgian struggle.”
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