Merab Dvalishvili lives up completely to his moniker. After all, ‘The Machine’ is every bit unstoppable, indefatigable, and untirable as his nickname suggests. But this has not always been the case. In fact, the reigning bantamweight champion was written off as just another forgettable prospect by many after his first two UFC fights.

And for good reason. After all, he lost to little-known Frankie Saenz and Ricky Simon in his first two outings respectively. Not exactly the first signs of a future champion. This is why when one fan recently termed Dvalishvili a ‘fraudulent champion’, legendary MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy jumped in to defend him. For context, Dvalishvili faced Simone in his second UFC fight back in 2018, where he lost a split decision to the American.

One of the most interesting parts of the bout was towards the very end of the fight when Dvalishvili seemingly passed out from a guillotine by Simon. This, according to a recent tweet by ‘Big John’, would have meant ‘The Machine’ lost by technical submission if he was calling the fight. This is why one fan asked him: “So you’re saying @MerabDvalishvil lost to @RickySimonUFC and therefore is a fraudulent champion?”

To which the referee had a very reasonable and convincing retort. “Merab did lose to Ricky. That in no way makes him a fraudulent Champion. He is the UFC Bantamweight champion because he overcame that loss and continued to be a wrecking ball that hasn’t been stopped since,” McCarthy wrote.

These losses would compel the Georgian to work extremely hard, and he subsequently went on an eleven-fight win streak, culminating in him winning the title off of Sean O’Malley at the historic ‘Sphere’ card in September 2024. And now the biggest question is just who he will fight next.

Petr Yan thinks his upcoming fight may determine the next 135lbs contender

Merab Dvalishvili is yet to defend his newly claimed bantamweight title. ‘The Machine’ has indicated that he would be willing to compete after February next year, and wants to fight thrice in 2025. But the most important question is- who will he face?

Of course, there is #2 ranked undefeated bantamweight phenom Umar Nurmagomedov, whom the Georgian is loathe to fight. After all, the champ feels that Umar was given special treatment by the UFC because he is Khabib’s cousin, and hasn’t quite earned his place in the division like the other guys.

This is why the upcoming Fight Night clash between #3 and former champ Petr Yan and former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo is so crucial. The Russian feels that if he wins, he will be next in line for the 135-pound title. Figueiredo, on the other hand, was already floated as his first title defense by ‘The Machine’ earlier this year.

“Merab has been saying that he’s [Figueiredo] the only real deserving challenger for his belt, so this is a good opportunity for me to get this position; beat him and challenge for the belt instead of him,” Yan said recently

This means the winner of Yan-Figueiredo may well find themselves in the octagon with the Georgian next year since the latter hasn’t been able to agree to a date to fight Umar. What do you think about ‘Big’ John McCarthy’s defense of Merab Dvalishvili?