Las Vegas — Ahead of his UFC 320 media day appearance, bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili was awarded his letterman jacket for 50 clean tests under the UFC’s Anti-Doping program.
On hand to honor Dvalishvili was Jeff Novitzky, UFC Senior VP of Athlete Health and Performance. In a word, Novitzky summed up how Dvalishvili has managed to find success, in terms of keeping his body clean while maintaining his status as a top tier athlete: he’s “unique,” noted Novitzky.
That he is. Case in point, the recent revelation that Dvalishvili doesn’t bother warming up before training. Instead, he just jumps right in.
“This is one of my dreams,” Dvalishvili said of receiving his 50 clean test jacket. After that, and a story about drug testers waking him up too early, it was on to UFC 320, and title challenger Cory Sandhagen.
“Cory Sandhagen has a dangerous game,” Dvalishvili (20-4) said on Wednesday, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “Like flying knee, spinning kick, submission attack, good cardio, he escapes takedowns, and then he’s getting up easy, quickly. And a lot of experience. But he’s fighting me, and I’m an even better version [of myself] this time.”
That confidence doesn’t mean Dvalishvili is overlooking Sandhagen. “We all know that one punch, one submission can change everything. So I recognize all the danger from Cory Sandhagen, but at the same time I’m going to do what I was training for, and it’s going to be a good night for me. I believe that.”
Dvalishvili has been impressively active as a champ, and a win over Cory Sandhagen would be his third title defense of the year. So does the Georgian star think of things like becoming the 2025 Fighter of the Year? Sort of, it seems.
“Yeah if I win, I should be Fighter of the Year,” Dvalishvili told Cageside Press. “But I’m not focusing on this. I want to do more. I’m healthy, I’m hungry, I’m super-motivated. I love fighting. I want to do my best always, and that’s what I’m focusing on. To do my best, and whatever the record or resume will come with that, I will take it, but like I said I always have a next goal, and [I] do my best always.”
Watch the full UFC 320 media day appearance by Merab Dvalishvli above.
