Can Anyone Stop the Bantamweight Champion?

To put it bluntly, the Bantamweight Division is historically difficult. The top five of the division are full of future Hall of Famers and exciting fighters. With a division full of killers, you would assume the championship would change hands quite often. However, we are amid one of the most dominant championship reigns in UFC history. Merab Dvalishvili has faced nearly every serious contender the Bantamweight Division has to offer and has destroyed them all. In the current climate of the UFC Bantamweight Division, despite the talented names that reside in the Bantamweight Division, there are only three names that could be a real threat to the ‘Machines’ Bantamweight throne. 

Cory Sandhagen

Cory Sandhagen is most likely next to challenge for Dvalishvili’s Bantamweight Championship. Sandhagen, while not the most impressive challenger Dvalishvili has faced, brings a unique challenge to the champion. Sandhagen has improved his grappling exponentially in his last fights, and with excellent striking, Sandhagen could make the fight close. However, Sandhagen has struggled to win fights when they matter the most, and no fight matters more than one for the UFC Bantamweight Championship. 

Umar Nurmagomedov

Umar Nurmagomedov gave Merab Dvalishvili the biggest challenge over his 13-fight win streak, but ultimately fell short at UFC 311. Nurmagomedov took the first two rounds against Dvalishvili, but fell to Merab’s vicious pace in the final three rounds. After Nurmagomedov gassed out, Dvalishvili took over the fight, relentlessly imposing his dominant wrestling over the Dagestani en route to a unanimous decision victory. Even though Umar Nurmagomedov was unable to beat Dvalishvili in their first go-around, Nurmagomedov did have success in the standup. If Nurmagomedov can find his way back into championship contention, he now knows how to pace himself and what to expect against the champion.

Petr Yan

To put it bluntly, Merab Dvalishvili dominated the Russian Petr Yan. In five rounds, Dvalishvili shot 49 takedowns against Yan. Petr Yan had no success against the Georgian, but has been impressive in his last two fights. Yan has shown the ability to bounce back after a loss, with wins over Song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo. Even though Yan fared the worst out of Dvalishvili’s past opponents, Yan still is the toughest challenge for the champion. Out of every contender, Yan has the deepest skill set, and when facing a fighter with unlimited cardio, a deep skill set is exactly what you need.