Merab Dvalishvili outlines plan to vacate bantamweight belt to allow UFC newcomer a world championship chance

02/17/2025 07:56 AM

Fresh off his sensational victory over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, Merab 'The Machine' Dvalishvili is loving life as the bantamweight king.

Whilst the Georgian wrecking ball is content with his status as undisputed UFC champion, that's not to say that he's ignoring the next generation of up-and-comers in his division.

In fact, Merab Dvalishvili has now revealed that should one particular UFC newcomer work his way into the title picture, he'll vacate his bantamweight championship in favor of a different challenge.

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Merab Dvalishvili says he'll vacate bantamweight title for one UFC newcomer

'The Machine' has explained that the plan is to vacate his UFC belt if Aleksandre Topuria, brother of featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, enters bantamweight title contention.

"In my opinion, he will also become a champion," Dvalishvili said at a recent press conference, as reported by Europop Georgia earlier this week.

"Until now, he put his career on pause because of Ilia, but now he is in the UFC and showing what he can do. Before there was no other Georgians in Las Vegas, [but] now there are several of us at Syndicate MMA… Even though we don't spar with each other, we are still doing great things together."

Aleksandre Topuria is currently 6-1 as a professional and 1-0 under the UFC banner, having scored a unanimous decision win over Colby Thicknesse at UFC 312 in Australia.

"Aleksandre has his own path," continued Dvalishvili, stating that it should take "at least two years" for the older Topuria brother to reach the upper echelon of the division.

"I have said before that if Aleksandre becomes a contender, I will give up the belt. Either I will move up, or I will move down, or I will have super fights. We will resolve it amicably. And in general, this is a good problem."

Merab Dvalishvili isn't the only one who's expecting the fresh-faced Aleksandre Topuria to join him and his brother as a UFC champion.

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Reaction to Aleksandre Topuria's successful UFC debut was mixed

Despite being successful in his UFC debut earlier this month, the reaction of the MMA community was certainly mixed as many fans expressed disappointment in Aleksandre Topuria's lack of finishing potential.

"Biggest favorite on the card and fought with zero intensity," wrote former double champion Henry Cejudo, adding "Not too impressed by Aleksandre Topuria in his debut."

Former UFC fighter turned analyst Josh Thomson noted that it'll be interesting to see whether Aleksandre Topuria can handle the pressure that comes with constant comparisons to his champion brother.

"He's going to get compared a lot to his brother which is fair because they're brothers obviously but the way his fighting style is, I don't know if, I just want to know how it's going to affect him, you understand what I'm saying?

"I hope he's got thick skin because the comparison's gonna happen soon, if it already hasn't by the time this media thing gets out tomorrow… [His style] looks similar but they're different fighters. Different fighters but that's a good thing, it's just a matter of [whether] he can separate himself."