“Only one part I hate, it’s weight cut,” Merab Dvalishvili said, lifting the curtains on his biggest fear when gearing up for a fight. Apparently, the bantamweight champion experiences extreme anxiety the week before weigh-ins, despite never missing weight. To battle that, Dvalishvili basically starves himself, a method that has Daniel Cormier in stitches.

The wait is almost over for UFC 323, set to kick off on December 7th. With the event razor-close, it’s officially time for Dvalishvili’s macabre weight cut, and Cormier’s insider look behind the curtains paints a concerning picture.

Merab Dvalishvili experiences another bone-chilling weight-cut episode

Daniel Cormier joined the UFC 323 Morning Weigh-ins live stream on the UFC’s YouTube channel, offering critical insights into the Dvalishvili vs Yan 2 card for Sunday night. That’s when the conversation steered over to the headliner’s fan favorite—Merab Dvalishvili. But all is not fine, as it appears.

“I just watched Merab in the back because I was the one who confirmed the news that he’s here already. He looks awful. He looks terrible because he has such hard weight cuts to do,” DC shared a glimpse of ‘The Machine.’ That’s hardly how we identify the bantamweight king, with his tenacious profile inside the octagon. Adding to that, Cormier believes that Dvalishvili fights his biggest battle even before he enters the cage.

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“What he has done, having to cut the amount of weight that he cuts every single time, is as impressive as what he does inside the octagon. This guy’s a champion that defends the title, but ultimately, he has a big fight every time he steps onto the scale to try to finish it,” Cormier revealed.

While the Georgian doesn’t necessarily shed more pounds than his opponents, what makes his run to 135 pounds steep is the way he approaches it. Dvalishvili cuts all carbohydrates and water, starting on Wednesday, sweating out the extra pounds until he hits the scale on Friday. No sauna. No hot baths. The old school way surely taxes his body heavily.

“I don’t think it’s that he cuts more weight than other people. I think it’s the way he does it. He cuts the weight all week long. He kinda starves himself. He works out super hard. He’s cutting that water out as opposed to most guys gradually loading, and they gradually bring down their water, so they’re heavier throughout the week. So when we interview him during the week, he looks depleted because he is,” Chris Weidman explained.

Could this affect the ‘Machine’s vigor inside the octagon on Sunday?

Merab Dvalishvili has a difficult fight ahead

It isn’t new for the Georgian fighter to leave the stands speechless with his crushing display. But title defenses come with sky-scraping stakes, especially for the bantamweight champion. Merab Dvalishvili has defeated the likes of Sean O’Malley, Jose Aldo, and Cory Sandhagen. In fact, in his first bout with Petr Yan in 2023, Dvalishvili set the record for most takedowns attempted in a UFC fight, with a total of 49 attempts. But his brutal weight cut saga has concerned many.

The rematch with Yan marks his fourth title defense of the year, which means four weight cuts in a single calendar year. If this were the way most made weight, it wouldn’t be much of a concern. But complete dehydration, reflective of his Judo roots, could have adverse effects on his organs, including brain damage issues. In fact, on the boxing leg, British boxer Chris Eubank Jr. had to be hospitalized owing to a rehydration limit that put stress on his kidneys.

Daniel Cormier believes that it is one of the biggest dangers looming over the bantamweight menace. “He knows that starting yesterday, he is pretty much done with intaking anything before he steps on that scale on Friday. That is the danger for a guy like Merab,” he shared.

Dvalishvili, in contrast, has a more relaxed attitude to the situation. “It is never easy. It is always tough. It’s a mental game. I was feeling worse on Wednesday, but today I feel good. I will be fine,” he told the presser.

For him, it’s more of a mental battle. But weight-cut cannot remain limited to the metaphysical, bleeding into his physical health. Cormier’s description raises another huge red flag right before the big night. Will “The Machine” power through like always, or is this the fight where the weight cut finally catches up to him?