The UFC on ESPN 10 fight week was a whirlwind of shake-ups and last minute changes. Among them, the Merab Dvalishvili vs. Ray Borg fight — which, by Thursday, had lost Ray Borg.
Borg dropped off the card due to personal reasons, believed related to the health of his son. In his place stepped Combate Americas bantamweight champ Gustavo Lopez. But not before some more drama about whether he was actually free of his contract with that promotion.
With the air finally cleared, the fight moved forward at a 140lb catchweight.
Coming into this fight Lopeaz had questionable takedown defense, and right away Dvalishvili was all over him. Lopez did shake off the first attempt, which was a big deal for him. He did a good job pressing forward while Dvalishvili was throwing a lot of kicks. Dvalishvili would finally secure the takedown on his second attempt, but Lopez didn’t stay down long. Merab was punching his way into takedowns very well hiding his entrances behind the right hand. Dvalishvili ended the round on top standing in the guard landing huge ground and pound to the bell.
HUGE SHOTS to end RD1.
We're on to our FIRST RD2 of the evening!? 😳 #UFCVegas2 pic.twitter.com/C6lDc8K8eX
— UFC (@ufc) June 14, 2020
Round two saw the wrestler Dvalishvili land a nice right hand that backed up Lopez. Dvalishvili continued to strike his way into another takedown a minute in. Dvalishvili sat on top in side control staying busy with knees to the body and held in a neck crank before Lopez scrambled back to the feet. From there, Dvalishvili scored four more takedowns while avoiding a guillotine from Lopez. Though Dvalishvili ended the round on top, Lopez did an excellent job working back to his feet.
Round three saw Merab Dvalishvili show his improvement on the feet throwing a head kick, barely missing and landing the right cross. It wasn’t long though until the fight went right back to the mat with Dvalishvili on top. Lopez continued to get back up but Merab was all over him. Merab stayed busy throwing hammer fists and always transitioning. Taking the mount and the back twice. Dvalishvili put the stamp on the round securing his by thirteenth takedown. Beating his own record of 12, which was the most any fighter had secured in the bantamweight division.
3️⃣0️⃣-2️⃣6️⃣
3️⃣0️⃣-2️⃣6️⃣
3️⃣0️⃣-2️⃣5️⃣THE MACHINE – @MerabDvalishvil! #UFCVegas2 pic.twitter.com/ClBq38Bp5z
— UFC (@ufc) June 14, 2020
Official Result: Merab Dvalishvili def. Gustavo Lopez by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)
