Merab Dvalishvili, the UFC bantamweight champion, is much from strange. He has phenomenal conditioning and seemingly infinite stamina. This yr, he broke the report for probably the most takedowns in UFC historical past, with a whopping 117, beforehand held by the legend Georges St-Pierre with 90.
Merab Dvalishvili: The Report Breaker
In his current title struggle, Dvalishvili took down Cory Sandhagen 20 occasions, making ‘The Sandman’s takedown protection seem extra like that of a sand citadel. This set the report for probably the most accomplished takedowns by a fighter in a UFC title struggle, and it was just one takedown shy of equalling Khabib Nurmagomedov’s report for probably the most takedowns in any UFC struggle ever.
Dvalishvili’s Unorthodox Coaching Strategies
Many have questioned how Merab Dvalishvili might be this good. In a current podcast with Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, the Georgian revealed lots of his unorthodox coaching strategies, demonstrating the lengths he’s keen to go to be the most effective.
Dvalishvili defined that to chop weight for every of his fights, he stops consuming and ingesting on Tuesday evening earlier than the weigh-in on Friday. He continues to coach on Wednesday and Thursday, opting to sweat out the water weight by way of train, regardless of consuming nothing to gas him on lately. He by no means depends on the sauna or sizzling tub to chop weight.
The Georgian defined that his psychological fortitude will get him by way of this: “Once I’m hungry and thirsty as I’m operating [in order] to sweat, I wish to cry, however I smile.” That sort of psychological power in a time of adversity really demonstrates why he has earned the nickname ‘The Machine.’
Merab Dvalishvili additionally admitted that he barely stretches and doesn’t even heat up. At 34, he doesn’t wish to waste any time and desires to coach solely fight-like situations, getting as many rounds in as attainable.
Nonetheless unorthodox his method could also be, it’s working. ‘The Machine’ holds the longest win streak in UFC bantamweight historical past with 13, already making a powerful case to be the group’s finest bantamweight of all time. I stay up for seeing if he can prolong this streak in his subsequent struggle.