UFC legend Chael Sonnen has explained how Merab Dvalishvili could’ve avoided costly title loss by implementing something Mike Tyson did throughout his career.
Last weekend, Merab Dvalishvili‘s incredible bantamweight title reign came to an end when he lost his rematch against Petr Yan at UFC 323.
Georgians have been very active in the last few months and due to his reign as champion he’s been told that his next fight is for the title.
Just a few days removed from his loss to ‘No Mercy’, Dvalishvili’s teammate Aljamain Sterling revealed that the 34-year-old was unable to warm-up for his fight because of the co-main event result between Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van.
Just 25 seconds into the flyweight title fight, Pantoja suffered a fight-ending injury, meaning that Dvalishvili’s walkout took place quicker than he was expecting.
Was Merab Dvalishvili’s reign in 2025 impressive enough to warrant an immediate title shot?
'The Machine' put the belt on the line a record four times in 2025.
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Chael Sonnen explains why Mike Tyson was able to avoid a similar fate as Dvalishvili
Although Sterling received a lot of backlash for what many thought was an excuse for Dvalishvili’s loss, UFC legends Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen have backed Sterling’s claim, stating that not being able to warm up is actually a ‘big deal’.
Merab and his team planned to begin warming up as soon as Brandon Moreno’s fight…
2025-12-12 11:57:50
