Merab Dvalishvili has shown the strong bond he shares with the Topuria brothers, often being part of Ilya and Aleksandre’s team, just as they support him whenever they can. Following Aleksandre’s successful UFC debut in the division where Dvalishvili, also known as ‘The Machine,’ reigns, some have started wondering what would happen if the older Topuria brother continued to rise in the rankings.
“If Aleksandre Topuria becomes a contender for the title, he would renounce the belt,” Dvalishvili stated bluntly in a press conference in Georgia. Given their close relationship, it’s impossible to imagine a fight between them. As the champion himself acknowledged, he would give up his belt before facing a friend.
Dvalishvili emphasized, “I will upload or lower a weight category, we will solve this friendly.” Considering Ilyia Topuria’s intentions to move up from the lightweight category, it’s not unreasonable to think of a future weight change by either Aleksandre or Merab to featherweight, which would allow them to cover three divisions. It’s more logical for Merab to move up to featherweight rather than cut more weight to drop to flyweight, but there’s another friendship that could hinder this move.
Merab trains with Aljamain Sterling, a former bantamweight champion and current number 9 in the featherweight ranking. In fact, after Sterling lost the belt to Sean O’Malley in 2023, he decided to move up a category, and a year later, Merab took the belt from ‘Suga.’ If Dvalishvili moves up in the future, he would share a division with Sterling again, despite Sterling not achieving the expected results in the higher category.
Sterling, another friend along the way
‘The Machine’ is close to Aljamain Sterling, and their friendship could affect his potential move to featherweight. If Dvalishvili goes up, he would be in the same division as Sterling, who hasn’t been performing as expected in the higher category.
Be that as it may, Aleksandre has only had one fight in the UFC, so he still has a long road ahead of him to reach the top of the bantamweight division. At 34, Merab still has a possible rematch against Sean O’Malley and other potential hurdles to overcome before these hypotheses become a reality. After his first title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov, Merab has been able to see his friend Aleksandre take his first steps in the company, and he’s willing to sacrifice his legacy for their friendship, just as Sterling did.
