'The Machine' rolls on: Local champion goes for 14th straight win at UFC 320

A video of Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili swimming the entire length of Circa’s longest pool at Stadium Swim underwater without taking a breath—and still looking refreshed while flexing at the end—went viral before his last fight. 

Some casual sports fans might have suspected the video was altered or a product of artificial intelligence. But those who follow mixed martial arts came away unsurprised.

The 34-year-old Dvalishvili has worked his way to the top of the sport by employing quite possibly the most impressive cardio ever witnessed in the UFC’s octagon.

Dvalishvili’s fights typically feature endless parades of pressure exerted on his opponents—jabs, takedowns, ground-and-pound strikes and more, all thrown in rapid succession. The locally based bantamweight champion gets to show off his exhausting approach in his third title defense on October 4 at T-Mobile Arena in the co-main event of UFC 320 against kickboxing specialist Cory Sandhagen.

“He’s the clear contender,” Dvalishvili said of Sandhagen in a news conference after his last victory. “He has a good style, a good fighter. He has a lot of wins. He’s beaten a lot of good guys in this division. I’m sure MMA fans want to see this fight.”

Dvalishvili couldn’t be more right about the demand for his showdown with Sandhagen. The bout seems to have garnered more excitement from hardcore fight fans than the main event light heavyweight rematch between rivals Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev.

Pereira remains one of the UFC’s biggest stars but got neutralized by Ankalaev’s wrestling in a unanimous-decision upset loss at T-Mobile in March to lose his championship belt. It was a dull fight without a lot of action, and there’s not much reason to believe their second meeting will be much different.

Conversely, it would be a shock if Dvalishvili and Sandhagen didn’t provide fireworks—especially with the champion vowing in interviews that he will stand and trade with the challenger. Sandhagen doesn’t believe Dvalishvili’s promise and thinks even if he sticks to it, he’ll reverse course after taking a couple shots.

“That’s not going to be fun for him,” Sandhagen said in a Q&A session with fans and media over the summer.

Sandhagen has amassed six knockouts, including over former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiriedo in May, to propel him to this title shot, and five performance bonuses in his seven-year, 15-fight UFC career.

Dvalishvili only has one knockout in his stint in the octagon. The Tbilisi, Georgia, native has separated himself

more with control and volume in notching 13 straight victories and currently occupying the No. 3 position in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.

“I think Merab has some of the best offensive wrestling in the sport, but I think I’ve been able to show through the (Umar Nurmagomedov) fight that I have some of the best defensive wrestling in the sport,” Sandhagen said. “It’s going to be a challenging fight. I’ll get tired. I’ll be ready for that.”

Dvalishvili surpassed UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre in the company record book for most career takedowns after his last fight, a submission victory over Sean O’Malley in June. He’s now got 97 all-time takedowns and should be likely to clear the 100 milestone against Sandhagen.

Some of the UFC’s most notorious wrestlers are accused of taking the fight to the mat and stalling to bleed the clock, but that’s not Dvalishvili. He’ll do all the damage he can for a few seconds and then let his opponent up for more punishment.

His persistence in the cage matches his background. Dvalishvili immigrated to New York in 2014 precisely to pursue his professional fighting dreams, but then promptly lost two of his first three bouts in the regional Ring of Combat promotion.

He considered retirement and going full-time in the construction jobs he was working on the side before giving fighting one last chance.

Dvalishvili has never looked back since, eventually becoming the Ring of Combat champion to catch the eyes of the UFC, where he similarly lost his first two fights.

On the verge of being released from the promotion seven years ago, he began pushing his training harder to lay the groundwork for developing his current reputation as the UFC’s top athlete in terms of endurance. The pursuit for perfection eventually brought him to Las Vegas, where he bought a home and joined the team at one of the sport’s top gyms, Syndicate MMA.

The highlight of his career so far was dethroning O’Malley via unanimous decision to become champion at the most expensive UFC card ever, its $20 million production spectacular at Sphere in September 2024. But he’s won two more times since then, upsetting the previously unbeaten Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision and stopping O’Malley in a rematch to build his profile higher. 

Dvalishvili’s upward trajectory and the stylistic intrigue with Sandhagen has helped build UFC 320 into a can’t-miss event, as even UFC President Dana White struggled to contain his excitement when he announced the pairing this summer.

“That is a badass fight,” White said. “It should be a fun one.”

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.