SUMMARY
- Merab Dvalishvili just dominated Henry Cejudo on the UFC 298 main card.
- Not only that, he also had a great back and forth with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the contest.
UFC 298 had some amazing fights on the main card. However, none was more fascinating than Henry Cejudo’s return against Merab Dvalishvili. While Henry was still a world-class fighter, he just could not match his opponent’s near inhuman cardio.
As expected Merab started off on the front foot and Henry was waiting for the openings to land shot. It came pretty early in round 1 itself as he landed a huge hook that nearly dropped the Georgian fighter. However, living upto his nickname, “The Machine,” Dvalishvili kept on going and retaliated with a few leg kicks of his own. He even secured a big takedown on the Olympic gold medalist wrestler.
But, being the elite grappler he is, Cejudo managed to get out of it and then managed to secure the top position himself during a grappling exchange. At the beginning of round 2, Jon Anik and Joe Rogan confirmed that Merab Dvalishvili had a tough weight-cut and he was apparently “hurting” visibly. It also showed inside the Octagon where he was not his usual self.
CONFIRMED: Zuck is a BIG UFC guy #UFC298 pic.twitter.com/rFRHR5bxA2
— UFC (@ufc) February 18, 2024
Despite that, the 33-year-old managed to grow into the fight and land some devastating shots of his own as well! After rocking the former UFC double-champ, Merab went on to secure some advantageous grappling positions as well and dominated the rest of the event. In the last few seconds of the second round, Merab secured a guillotine choke and it nearly finished Triple C.
As he was choking Cejudo, the Georgian fighter was also having a conversation with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the two could be seen exchanging laughter. Ahead of round 3, the commentators also pointed out that there was a swelling on the Mexican-American fighter’s left forearm and also speculated that it might be broken.
Merab Dvalishvili beats Henry Cejudo at UFC 298
Merab Dvalishvili had no regard or respect for Henry Cejudo’s reputation. At one point with a couple of minutes to go in the final round, the 33-year-old picked up his former UFC champion opponent and body-slammed him in the middle of the Octagon. While Cejudo did not let “The Machine” finish him, he also failed to put up any amount of resistance against Merab’s continuous pressure.
Merab Dvalishvili landed a total of 167 total strikes and attempted 273. Out his total strikes, 74 were significant ones. On the other hand, Cejudo’s landed only 29 significant strikes and 54 strikes in total. In terms of grappling, Cejudo landed only 1 takedown whereas Dvalishvili landed 5 takedowns in total.
While there was no doubt about the result, UFC fans gotten used to some bizarre decisions. Hence, it was a big relief for Merab when Bruce Bufffer announced that the judges scored the bout in his favor, 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28. After the bout, Dvalishvili gave a giant shout-out to the Mark Zuckerberg and thanked him for the Meta CEO’s support. But he made his future plans clear to Joe Rogan in the interview afterward.
TEN 👏 IN 👏 A 👏 ROW 👏@MerabDvalishvil notches another UD win! #UFC298 pic.twitter.com/eqISVxZ5YK
— UFC (@ufc) February 18, 2024
He called out the current bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, who is set to defend his belt against Marlon Vera next month at UFC 299. But there was one more surprise up Merab’s sleeve. While he flat-out refused to fight his best friend Aljamain Sterling previously, it looks like he has softened his stance on it. But, as Joe Rogan confirmed, Merab seems to be next in line for a title shot.