The UFC bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili, surprised everyone by completing five full rounds of sparring in the gym last weekend in Las Vegas, just nine hours before his title defense against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320.Dvalishvili (21-4) secured a dominant decision victory on Saturday, in what was apparently his second five-round fight of the day. During an interview on the Jaxxon podcast, UFC light heavyweight Khalil Rountree Jr., Dvalishvili’s teammate at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, revealed this unusual preparation.Syndicate MMA head coach John Wood confirmed this information:
According to Wood, these five rounds are performed at a pace of “approximately 70 percent.” Despite this, it remains an uncommon practice in the sport, designed to be, in Wood’s words, “tough and technical fights.”In addition to the five rounds in the gym, Dvalishvili performs an intense warm-up in the fight area. The 34-year-old Georgian fighter usually completes between three and five additional rounds with his teammate and former bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, just before entering the octagon.This isn’t new. It’s funny that Khalil is the one revealing it. Merab has been doing this since I started training him [in 2020]. Every fight day, he comes in and spars for five rounds. He wanted to do six, and I had to stop him.
John Wood
Dvalishvili is known for his relentless endurance. In Saturday’s fight against Sandhagen, he achieved 20 takedowns, raising his career total to 117, the most in UFC history. He has already requested that the UFC schedule his next title defense in December.The craziest thing is the five rounds right before the fight. Aljamain brings a full helmet, and it’s a complete workout in the locker room. Obviously, Aljo isn’t there to hurt him, and it’s gotten to a point several times where I feel bad for Aljo, because Merab is just beating him up in there. It’s pretty interesting.
John Wood
