UFC president Dana White believes bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili has a serious decision to make about his career.
After setting a record for takedown attempts in the UFC Fight Night 221 main event at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Dvalishvili won a dominant unanimous decision over former champion Petr Yan. Entering the fight at No. 2 in the USA TODAY SPORTS/MMA Junkie bantamweight rankings, Dvalishvili only had one man ahead of him, and that’s his best friend and main training partner, the champ Aljamain Sterling.
Considering his dominant display and his ranking in the division, the next stop for most fighters would be a shot at the title. But for Dvalishvili, there is a bit of a predicament, because he and his friend Sterling have an agreement to not fight each other.
White, who has seen this scenario play out a few times in the past, says that Dvalishvili should reconsider that arrangement.
“I don’t remember who the hell I was talking to the other day about this, and I was like, ‘Yeah, we don’t have to deal with that bullsh*t anymore,'” White told reporters during a news conference Saturday. “You know, back in the early days, the camps were so small, you didn’t have a lot of different options. So, we had a lot of these guys saying, ‘Oh, he’s my friend, he’s my friend.’
“You can still be friends and want what your friend has, you know what I mean? It would be a really bad idea for Merab to go down that path.”
As White touched on, there have been a number of instances in the past when friends are heading on a collision course, but refuse to fight each other for the promotion’s championship.
From Anderson Silva refusing to fight Lyoto Machida, Daniel Cormier saying he would change divisions rather than fight Cain Velasquez, or Kamaru Usman stating he would rather there be two African champions than one when asked if he would challenge Israel Adesanya – friends have created pacts despite how much the fans or the promotion wants to see them fight each other.
Sterling has repeatedly stated he will not fight Dvalishvili in an effort to prevent ruining their friendship. At UFC 288, Sterling will look to defend his title against the returning former champ Henry Cejudo. A move to featherweight could be on the horizon for Sterling afterward, although that’s not a decision set in stone.
Dvalishvili said he wants to stay active and there are other fights he could take, but above all, fighting Sterling is off the table. Despite the situation, the Georgian fighter sees two best friends at the top of the division as “a good problem to have,” but White disagrees.
“Does Merab want a shot at the title or would Merab rather have people under him jump over him, and him have to take on all these different tough guys, when he’s not getting a title shot when he’s next in line for it?” White said. “That’s a personal decision that he needs to make. If that’s what he wants to do, I can tell you how that story ends, and it’s not a good ending to that story. He’s a big boy, he can figure that out on his own.”
