Merab Dvalishvili - Who does he face to rebuild?
Merab Dvalishvili has now lost back to back fights against Petr Yan and must rebuild to become a contender again. We look at who 'The Machine' could face next.
Merab Dvalishvili, for the first time in six fights, will not fight for a title in his next fight. Following his UFC 333 loss to Petr Yan in their trilogy fight, Dvalishvili is now out of the title picture and must look to rebuild in an attempt to get his belt back.
With some of his 'aura' taken away from him at UFC 333 as his not-so-secret weapon, his cardio, appeared to fail him, he won't be as scary a fight as previously.
We take a look at who Merab could face next.
Matchmaking Merab Dvalishvili
Mario Bautista
The most likely next fight for Merab Dvalishvili is to face Mario Bautista next. The American is 10-1 in his last 11 fights, with his lone loss coming to Umar Nurmagomedov.
Bautista is extremely well-rounded, with 10 wins coming via finish, and with plenty of submissions on his record, there's a good chance he could cause Merab problems on the ground.
Most recently, he out-pointed Cory Sandhagen and did so in a fairly one-sided manner. He needs a huge name on his record, and a fight against Merab would provide that.
Umar Nurmagomedov 2
Having first competed against each other at UFC 311 in January of last year, it might already be time for a rematch. The two men appeared on a collision course, and when they met, Merab had his hand raised and took away Nurmagomedov's undefeated record.
Merab's wrestling was no match for the Russian, and he was able to outpoint him over 25 minutes. Since then, Merab went on to have a record of 2-2 in title fights, defeating Sean O'Malley and Cory Sandhagen before losing twice to the champion, Petr Yan.
Nurmagomedov has gone 2-1, however, suffered his first finish loss last time out to Song Yadong. There's a chance that Merab vs Nurmagomedov 2 happens soon.
Song Yadong
If Song Yadong doesn't get the title fight next and wants to stay active, he could be the one to clash with Merab next. The Chinese fighter is on the cusp of a title shot next, but there's a chance that Sean O'Malley gets the next shot at Yan.
Song Yadong is enjoying a two fight finishing streak with a submission win over Deiveson Figueiredo and a knockout over Umar Nurmagomedov. He needs another big name on his record and Merab would provide that huge divisional name.
This could be the one to make.
