Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo are having their wrestling rematch this weekend for RAF, and a previous RAF opponent of Dvalishvili thinks Cejudo is being catered to a bit here. Frankie Edgar is the wrestler in question who lost to Dvalishvili, but the former UFC lightweight champ would then bounce back to beat Clay Guida on points at RAF 11.
In Cejudo’s initial Real American Freestyle contest with Dvalishvili, already a quasi rematch after the latter beat the former in the UFC, saw ‘Triple C’ put together a sizable lead all throughout. Dvalishvili would then rally and end up getting the win on the mats in a massive comeback victory as the sizable underdog conquered the former Olympic gold medalist. When asked for his thoughts on the Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo sequel in RAF set to transpire at RAF 12 on August 22nd for the crossover lightweight championship, Edgar said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, it seems like they’re throwing Henry a bone a little bit. That last match, he was up by quite a few points and then Merab [Dvalishvili] was able to put the gas pedal down and get it. I think score 11 unanswered points. So seems like they’re giving Henry [Cejudo] another crack at it. Henry’s a gold medalist. Even though it’s a long time ago, he’s still a gold medalist Olympian. So I’m sure that wasn’t expected, the outcome they expected, and I think maybe that’s why they’re running it back. I’ll never never count out Merab.”
Merab Dvalishvili secures all-important title shot in UFC trilogy bout
Merab Dvalishvili will finally have his rubber match with Petr Yan, and this trilogy clash for the UFC bantamweight gold will transpire at UFC 333. This goes down on October 24th, and the action emanates from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. This isn’t the only championship clash on this card, as Alexander Volkanovski will defend his featherweight strap against the undefeated Movsar Evloev.
Yan defeating Dvalishvili in their rematch, after the latter won their first MMA fight, allowed the Russian to cement himself as a two-time 135-pound titleholder in the promotion. Curiously enough, if Dvalishvili were to secure his ideal outcome, he could also become a two-time kingpin in the division after authoring one of the all-time great title reigns in the history of the weight class.
