Merab Dvalishvili didn’t simply efficiently defend his title at UFC 311, he proved he’s pretty much as good as any fighter on the planet.
Oddsmakers had Dvalishvili dropping the bantamweight belt to the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov on Saturday, however “The Machine” flipped the script in spectacular style, outlasting the favored Nurmagomedov to win an exciting determination. Dvalishvili sometimes doesn’t get as a lot credit score for his technical acumen as a few of his fellow UFC champions, however he reminded everybody that having a 50-round gasoline tank and being inconceivable to complete is a reasonably nice base for MMA.
For his efforts, Dvalishvili has been rewarded with a top-5 spot within the MMA Preventing Pound-for-Pound Rankings. That’s no small feat when you think about the names he’s overtaking after getting into UFC 311 at No. 9 on our listing:
Dvalishvili has received 12 straight fights and knocked off quite a few top-10 opponents together with Sean O’Malley, Petr Yan, and Marlon Moraes, to not point out future UFC Corridor of Famers Jose Aldo and Henry Cejudo. Then he caps that run off with an upset (sounds ridiculous looking back, doesn’t it?) of Nurmagomedov? If something, No. 5 may be too low for the bantamweight king at this level.
Take into account this: If Dvalishvili’s shut buddy Aljamain Sterling hadn’t been on the prime of the division for thus lengthy, it’s completely attainable Dvalishvili captures the title years earlier, after which a number of of these notable wins I simply talked about are additionally championship defenses. If Dvalishvili have been on a streak of three or 4 straight defenses, how excessive on the pound-for-pound listing would he be then?
Ballot
How excessive do you place Merab Dvalishvili on the P4P listing?
Latest outcomes for ranked fighters (earlier rating proven): No. 1 Islam Makhachev def. Renato Moicano, No. 9 Merab Dvalishvili def. Umar Nurmagomedov
Upcoming bouts that includes ranked fighters: No. 2 Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev (UFC 313, March 8), No. 6 Dricus du Plessis vs. No. 17 Sean Strickland (UFC 312, Feb. 8), No. 12 Leon Edwards vs. Jack Della Maddalena (UFC London, March 22)
Fighters additionally receiving votes: Israel Adesanya (3), Aljamain Sterling (3), Patricio Pitbull (2), Magomed Ankalaev (1), Usman Nurmagomedov (1), Kamaru Usman (1)
Lastly, a refresher on some floor guidelines:
- The six-person voting panel consists of MMA Preventing staffers Alexander Ok. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Damon Martin and Jed Meshew.
- Updates to the rankings can be accomplished following each UFC pay-per-view. Fighters can be faraway from the rankings if they don’t compete inside 18 months of their most up-to-date bout.
- Ought to a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will determine whether or not that fighter ought to instantly be faraway from the rankings or preserve their place till additional discover (let’s put it this manner: we’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings loads faster than the UFC did).
As a reminder, the notion of pound-for-pound supremacy is at all times going to inherently be subjective. If you’re debating whether or not somebody like Sean Strickland needs to be ranked above somebody like Charles Oliveira, there is no such thing as a true proper reply. In different phrases: It’s not critical enterprise, of us.
Ideas? Questions? Issues? Make your voice heard within the feedback under.
