Merab Dvalishvili shut down every critic by handing Sean O’Malley his first-ever submission loss in their UFC 316 rematch. ‘The Machine’ not only kept his bantamweight title. He made a serious statement! With ‘Suga’ as his 13th straight victim inside the Octagon, he has now shared company with UFC greats like Jon Jones, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Georges St-Pierre, Max Holloway, and Demetrious Johnson.

The Georgian steam roller’s reign in the 135 lbs division has been so dominant that it’s easy to forget he actually has a few losses on his record. But one of his former opponents, who handed him a defeat back in 2018, just reminded fans of that fact with a hilarious twist

Ricky Simon reacts to Merab Dvalishvili’s UFC 316 victory, quoting Israel Adesanya

For the unversed, Ricky Simon is one of the few fighters who holds the bragging right of owning a win over Merab Dvalishvili. It came during a UFC Fight Night event in 2018, via a controversial, buzzer-beating guillotine choke. The referee stopped the fight, though the current champ insists he never went unconscious or tapped. 

Simon definitely remembers that night. So, after Merab picked up a big win at UFC 316 and kept building his legendary status, Simon took to Twitter and wrote, “Heading to the bar” — seemingly echoing Israel Adesanya’s old jab at Alex Pereira. Ironically, ‘The Last Stylebender’ once mocked Pereira for having just one win over him, which eventually turned into three in one of the UFC’s most iconic rivalries.

That was a pretty slick touch by the Washington native. Simon was once a solid title contender, riding an impressive five-fight win streak in the UFC. But as flashy as his rise was, his fall was just as steep, suffering three consecutive losses that knocked him off track. Still, he bounced back with a strong win over Javid Basharat at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song and is now set to face Charles Jourdain at UFC Atlanta.

Back to Merab, he’s been receiving nonstop praise from legendary figures across the MMA world. This time, a former rival and two-division champ stepped up to shower ‘The Machine’ with compliments, showing major respect for his rise and dominance.

Henry Cejudo believes Merab would be pound-for-pound number one 

Merab Dvalishvili defended his bantamweight belt for the second time in front of a roaring crowd in Newark, New Jersey. He took control of the matchmaking by calling out Cory Sandhagen as his next opponent. Many agree that it would be a great fight, but most already favor the reigning champ. Henry Cejudo took it up a notch, claiming that with another successful defense, the Georgian champ would become the pound-for-pound number one.

‘Triple C’ told Red Corner MMA, “Jones hasn’t gone through everybody in the heavyweight division, Islam hasn’t gone through everybody in the lightweight division. This dude is about to go through everybody in the division and there’s no denying it. If Merab beats Cory Sandhagen, he not only deserves pound-for-pound number one, but also the Fighter of the Year 2025.”

It’s definitely a huge compliment coming from a former two-division Olympian. And that’s also true, that Merab is really close to becoming the p4p number one. However, since Islam Makhachev would also look forward to fighting Jack Della Maddalena this year, it’d be interesting to see how the promotion ranks them accordingly if both of them end up with wins. 

With that being said, what do you think Merab Dvalishvili’s future in the bantamweight division looks like? Does he continue dominating the opponents? Or will his next opponent stop his run? Please let us know your thoughts by commenting below.