Merab Dvalishvili has just one title defense since capturing the bantamweight title from Sean O’Malley at UFC 306, and that came with a decision victory over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 just a few months later.
But his journey to the top of the division included enough big names for “The Machine” to be anointed the greatest bantamweight in the history of the promotion. That’s according to longtime play-by-play man, Jon Anik.
“I do believe he already has status as the greatest bantamweight of all time,” Anik told MMA Junkie. “I say that as a man who if I got married this weekend, Dominick Cruz would be a groomsman; he’s one of my best friends in the world. But when I look at the body of work of Merab Dvalishvili, in the modern era, he could be 14-0 in the UFC. He lost to Frankie Saenz and then a contentious ending against Ricky Simon. With respect to those two guys, it’s been 12 straight wins ever since.”
Here’s the current list of UFC bantamweight champions:
Dominick Cruz (2010)
Renan Barao (2012)
TJ Dillashaw (2014)
Dominick Cruz (2016)
Cody Garbrandt (2016)
T.J. Dillashaw (2017)
Henry Cejudo (2018)
Petr Yan (2020)
Aljamain Sterling (2021)
Sean O’Malley (2023)
Merab Dvalishvili (2024)
“He left a murderer’s row of champions in his wake before he even fought for the title,” Anik continued. “He beat Henry Cejudo, beat Petr Yan, beat Jose Aldo, then he beat Sean O’Malley, and defends the title on the challenger’s timeline in beating Umar Nurmagomedov. Now the rematch with Sean O’Malley? As far as I’m concerned, with respect to Aljamain Sterling and my BFF Dominick Cruz, the greatest of all time, not so quietly, is Merab ‘The Machine’ Dvalishvili.”
Dvalishvili (19-4) will look to retain his title against O’Malley when they run it back atop the upcoming UFC 316 pay-per-view (PPV) fight card on Sat. night (June 7, 2025) inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
