Merab Dvalishvili did not dwell on his UFC323 loss to Petr Yan and headed straight to Hawaii despite surrendering his title this month. Prior to the event, Merab Dvalishvili had already planned his post-UFC 323 trip, which included spending time with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Still, he stuck to his schedule despite the setback, traveling with close friend and former champion Aljamain Sterling. The pair even decided to spar during the vacation, and the session looked surprisingly more competitive than expected.

Merab Dvalishvili vs Mark Zuckerberg three-round sparring session

Mark Zuckerberg arrived with a wealthy fan who occasionally trains with UFC fighters. A few months ago, he made headlines for sparring with the much larger Alex Pereira in a mostly playful session despite Pereira’s size advantage. This time, Zuckerberg decided to spar with someone suited to his own size, Merab Dvalishvili.

‘The Machine’ recently shared six minutes of footage showing him landing real punches, making the sparring look just like a regular fight. Despite this, Zuckerberg stayed on his feet and managed to take Dvalishvili down with a controlled takedown. When Dvalishvili got back up, he playfully slapped the tenth richest man on the planet as he turned, as seen in the video posted by Happy Punch on X.

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Even with the playful back-and-forth, their sparring continued with both men smiling the entire time. They wrapped up the session with a hug and walked away laughing.

Mark Zuckerberg has long been passionate about combat sports. During the pandemic, he committed fully to training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) under coach Dave Camarillo. Over time, he competed in both gi and no-gi BJJ competitions. By 2023, after nearly two years of dedicated practice, Zuckerberg earned his blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

At one point, he had considered stepping into the MMA scene, but an ACL injury put those plans on hold. Today, he has become a well-known MMA hobbyist who regularly attends UFC events, particularly to watch Merab Dvalishvili’s fights.

Now that they are training together, they’ve even caught the attention of other fighters, including Sean Strickland, who commented, “Me next,” on the Merab Dvalishvili–Zuckerberg Instagram post. The Georgian star responded with, “No.”

Dvalishvili announces a direct return timeline from Hawaii

Although Merab Dvalishvili left the octagon bloodied, the Georgian fighter did not sustain any serious injuries, as most of the damage was cosmetic. He is now taking some time off on “vacation” in Hawaii. Following his break, Dvalishvili plans to train soon with his countryman and lightweight champion Ilia Topuria in Spain, as he had previously mentioned.

Before sparring with Mark Zuckerberg, he Recently posted a clip in which he removed his own stitches from his nose. In the video, Dvalishvili also addressed his plans for a trilogy fight against Petr Yan.

“As you can see, my face is all stitched up. I’m just going to take out these little stitches and get ready to go. Now Peter is the champ, and I’ll wait for him when he wants to come back. But I would like to fight as soon as possible. A realistic time would be April or May, which would be best because I’m from Georgia and Peter is from Russia,” said Merab Dvalishvili.

Later in the video, Dvalishvili dismissed any notion of fighting at the UFC White House event, explaining that neither he nor Yan are American.”

“I don’t think we’re going to fight at the White House. Yeah, April or May will be good, and it’s going to be a great fight. I’m glad you guys liked our second fight, our last fight. I lost, but I’m happy you enjoyed it,” the former champion added.

What’s your take on Merab Dvalishvili’s plan? Do you think he’s in line for a rematch soon, or does he need to work his way back toward a title shot? Share your thoughts below.