Yahoo Sports Ray Longo explains how the UFC 'created a monster' in Merab Dvalishvili
Ray Longo thinks Merab Dvalishvili's long road to UFC gold turned him into an unstoppable force.
Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) had to win 10-straight fights – including wins over former champions Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo before earning his title shot. He dethroned Sean O'Malley to become UFC bantamweight champion this past September, but didn't get too much time to enjoy his accomplishment.
Instead, Dvalishvili felt pressured to make a relatively quick turnaround to defend his belt against undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov four months later at UFC 311. But the Georgian prevailed once again when he outlasted Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) by unanimous decision this past Saturday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
"First off, he's still getting better," Longo told MMA on SiriusXM. "Merab was always a work in progress. Even any time he lost before he got to the UFC, he always made the corrections. His two losses, which I didn't think were losses, he made corrections in those fights. He just kept getting better and better. I said it the other day, what they did to him to get to the title, putting a who's-who in front of him to beat, I think they just created a monster.
"His confidence just kept getting better and better – everything. We had to walk through fire to get to that title and it's that thing: Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I think he's a perfect example of that because they put five to six guys in front of him that I'm sure they thought were going to beat him and they didn't, and this is what you see."
UFC CEO Dana White was asked about his relationship with Dvalishvili at the post-fight news conference.
"He and I have had kind of a goofy relationship," White said. "So he was just saying, 'Listen, I love the UFC. Thank you for everything.' He was going crazy. I said talk to Joe (Rogan), you and I will talk later. It's been pretty public how goofy our relationship is. He's done some things that I didn't love. I don't dislike him at all, it's just we've just had some moments. That's typical, I have moments with everybody. No biggie."
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ray Longo explains how the UFC 'created a monster' in Merab Dvalishvili
