Chael Sonnen thinks Merab Dvalishvili had a breakout moment at UFC 311.
UFC bantamweight champion Dvalishvili handed Umar Nurmagomedov his first-career loss in their title fight in January. Not only was he an underdog in the fight, but he had to rally after losing the first two rounds on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) grew in confidence throughout the fight, and even showboated on numerous occasions against Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) en route to a unanimous decision win. That’s why this matchup gets Sonnen’s pick for the Fight of the Year so far.
“I do got to go with Merab and Umar. A star was made,” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier. “The audience did not care about Merab at that point. Just to share for you that specific night, he had to jerk the curtain before ‘Money’ (Renato) Moicano, he was not a main event style fighter, and he was supposed to lose that fight. I think he was close to a 3-1 underdog and, in fact, Merab was losing that fight until he wasn’t.
“He came back, he started showboating, things that people generally have been annoyed when Merab does, they started to get behind him. The audience started to get into it, they started to understand Merab, and at the end of those 25 minutes not only had he solidified and clarified that he is the best in the world, he also won over the people, and that’s a very difficult thing to do.”
Dvalishvili has since notched his second title defense by submitting Sean O’Malley in the UFC 316 main event, defeating “The Suga Show” for a second time.
