"Thank God, my head is fine" Merab Dvalishvili Gets Real On Sparring With Ilia Topuria

At UFC 317, Ilia Topuria showed what his ruthless power can do to a former lightweight champion as he slept Charles Oliveira out cold in the first round to become a two-division world champion. The Georgian-born Spaniard and the UFC Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili are two European champions who put the Georgian map on notice. Ilia has knocked out three of the most beloved fighters in his last three fights, and his fellow countryman, Merab Dvalishvili, is on the path to becoming the GOAT of the Bantamweight division. The two shared the cage in sparring sessions while they were making their way up in the UFC, but not now. Recently, Merab Dvalishvili revealed the reason behind that.

In a recent conversation with Ariel Helwani, the reigning bantamweight champion revealed that when he sparred with Ilia Topuria, his body shots were enough to drop him twice during the practice, and fortunately, he didn’t take any shots on his face.

“I can’t spar with him anymore. He hits hard. He dropped me two times from body shots. Thank God my head is fine. And every time I finished sparring with him, I was like, ‘Thank God, it’s over.'”
Merab Dvalishvili said

Ilia Topuria became the first UFC fighter to become an undefeated two-division champion. First, the featherweight champion defended his belt against Max Holloway by knocking him out cold, and then he moved up to become the lightweight champ. Merab, being his friend and a true sportsman, praised Ilia Topuria for his work ethic

“He’s just special. He’s just different, man. He’s so smart. He’s so organized. Very organized. Even he’s different than his brother [Aleksandre Topuria]. His brother also very talented, very good fighter. But Ilia, he sees things before, he works for it, he has a plan and he’s just doing it, man.”
Merab said

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