Merab Dvalishvili left us all in a state of admiration as he forced Sean O’Malley to tap out with a peculiar choke at UFC 316. He dubbed it the ‘Machine Choke,’ explaining that he had worked on it extensively during camp. Jon Jones, being a champion for a long time, didn’t fail to notice that. 

Taking to X, the heavyweight champion dropped in a picture that hailed ‘The Machine’ as the 6th UFC champion to have a 13-fight win streak. The group included Khabib Nurmagomedov, Demetrious Johnson, Max Holloway, Georges St-Pierre, and of course, Jon Jones himself. In the caption of the tweet, Bones wrote, “Welcome and congratulations [Merab Dvalishvil].” It didn’t take long for the bantamweight champion to express his gratitude for the mention. He dropped to the comments section and punched in a single raised fist emoji. Responding to that, the #2 pound-for-pound fighter asked, “How are you feeling today champ? Are you sore at all?” Dvalishvili has yet to respond to Jones’ query. But it seems like he answered him through another means. 

A video has been going viral on the internet where Jones can be spotted clubbing with Dvalishvili and the former bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling. In the video, Jones kept shouting, “Let’s go, Merab!” And while the chants drowned the music in the background, he put the shining UFC bantamweight belt on Dvalishvili’s shoulders. Meanwhile, ‘Funk Master’ joined the heavyweight champion in praising ‘The Machine’ on his recent victory. 

While watching Jones celebrate with Dvalishvili was something new, seeing Sterling with ‘The Machine’ was a bit normal. That’s because the duo are teammates and are definitely the best of friends. But do you know how the Georgian champion thanked his teammate for help? Let’s find out!

Merab Dvalishvili won hearts with his gift to Aljamain Sterling before Jon Jones praised him for his victory

During the post-fight press conference, Dvalishvili said, “In this training camp, my friend Aljamain Sterling helped me so much. He doesn’t have a fight (booked) – he’s getting married. He doesn’t really like sparring, but he was sparring with me three times a week (to mimic O’Malley). He was two times better than Sean O’Malley’s striking. He was not trying to shoot on me, take me down.”

‘The Machine’ claimed that it proved how strong Sterling was. He claimed that it’s not always the best fighter who wins. According to him, ‘Suga’ simply got lucky when he rose victorious over Sterling. Nevertheless, he was utterly grateful for having ‘Funk Master’ as his teammate. But what about the gift? It involved a hefty amount of money that shocked the entire fighting community. 

Dvalishvili said, “And I tell him today, I have to split my bonus and give him half, let’s go, brother. That will be my wedding gift… You are the man. Thank you, bro.” You heard it right! The Georgian agreed to give half of his $50K Performance of the Night bonus to Sterling. ‘Funk Master’ will marry his long-time love, Rebecca Cruz. And the show of brotherhood by the 6th UFC fighter with a 13-fight win streak was indeed the best gift he could receive for his upcoming wedding. 

What are your thoughts on Jon Jones’ praise for Dvalishvili? Do you think anyone in the bantamweight realm can defeat Dvalishvili? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.