Merab Dvalishvili, the UFC Bantamweight champion, didn’t seem too impressed by the record-breaking feat of Joshua Iyalla, who recently became a Guinness World Record holder. Iyalla now holds the record for most punches landed in a minute.
Dvalishvili last fought in January at UFC 311 where he defended the Bantamweight title against then-undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov. Next for “The Machine” is a rematch against Sean O’Malley at UFC 316.
Merab Dvalishvili Drops 1-Word Reaction to Joshua Iyalla Becoming Guinness World Record Holder
Joshua Iyalla, a martial artist, recently made history by punching 453 times in 60 seconds. ESPN highlighted the news on its official Instagram channel — noting that Iyalla actually broke three world records in two hours — but Merab Dvalishvili didn’t seem impressed.
Even though Iyalla punched the bag more than 400 times, it didn’t have much power, as he was more concerned about making contact.
“Lol,” Dvalishvili wrote in the comments section of the post.
Dvalishvili’s upcoming fight against Sean O’Malley is the rematch of their first bout at UFC 306 at The Sphere in Las Vegas where he became the undisputed champion. The 34-year-old easily won on the scorecards, but many, including UFC CEO Dana White, felt O’Malley looked off. “Suga” later underwent hip surgery and has now vowed to win the title back.
Dvalishvili Defends Rematch With Sean O’Malley
Despite White’s interest in seeing Dvalishvili rematch Sean O’Malley, fight fans have been critical of the matchmaking. Many believe O’Malley doesn’t deserve an immediate rematch, particularly as he only had one title defense.
Dvalishvili thinks otherwise. The 35-year-old recently appeared on the Ariel Helwani Hour and shared his thoughts about the matter. After pointing out that Dvalishvili was against fighting Umar Nurmagomedov, citing that he hasn’t earned it, Helwani asked whether he was okay with rematching O’Malley.
“Yes, I am happy. Um, I think even though lots of people criticize O’Malley getting a rematch, I think he deserves it,” Dvalishvili said. “And I think I want to find out too, you know, he made lots of excuses after the fight. And now he did surgery, and I know he will make adjustments and he will change the game plan. It’s going to be a totally different fight.”
Dvalishvili believes that the rematch will be entirely different from the first fight. He is confident that O’Malley will attack from the beginning and use body kicks. On the contrary, “The Machine” claimed he would be more willing to showcase his striking prowess. The champion admitted being more cautious in the first fight because he was the challenger.
Dvalishvili recently ran into O’Malley at the UFC PI, and the duo had a cordial interaction. The animosity towards O’Malley subsided, but his feelings toward Tim Welch, O’Malley’s head coach, haven’t gone away. Welch is known for playing mind games with O’Malley’s opponents, and Dvalishvili didn’t like it when it happened at UFC 306.