Merab Dvalishvili has his eyes set on reclaiming the belt in 2026.
The Georgian fighter, who once held the UFC bantamweight title with a record-breaking run, was dethroned at the end of last year.
He successfully defended his belt against Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley, and Cory Sandhagen before dropping it to Petr Yan at UFC 323.
With their series now tied at one win each, Dvalishvili immediately called for a trilogy bout to decide the rivalry.
If that fight goes ahead, the former champ’s teammate believes he knows how to replicate the result from their first meeting.
Aljamain Sterling advises Merab Dvalishvili on how to get back at Petr Yan
Dvalishvili has said the UFC promised him a chance to reclaim the bantamweight title when he returns this year.
If that happens, he will be aiming to repeat the kind of performance that saw him dominate Yan over five rounds in their 2023 UFC Fight Night main event.
To make that happen, Aljamain Sterling believes his teammate needs to focus on what made him successful in the first place.
Sterling said to Home of Fight: “I think the adjustments that he has to make is getting back to being more like himself.
“That first fight or any of his other fights, Merab does a couple of different things: He circles a bit, gets the pacing, gets the timing, gets his feet settled underneath him, and then he starts to push the pace.
“When he fought Petr Yan the first time, within the first 10 or 15 seconds, he shot.
“This one, they exchanged jabs and one-twos for about three minutes on the feet. I don’t know why that was.
“That was one of the things Merab and I talked about. You’ve got to set the tempo and the pacing early like you did the first time. Don’t burn yourself out because I think he kind of got himself a little bit tired.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov sides with Merab Dvalishvili’s case for a title fight
Even though Dvalishvili had a record-setting run before losing his belt to Yan, there has not been any guarantee he will get an immediate rematch.
O’Malley pushed for another shot at Yan both before and after his win at UFC 324, and the champion seemed more interested in that option than running it back with ‘The Machine’.
But Dvalishvili is not short on support, especially from someone as influential as Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib laid out how he sees the bantamweight division playing out, especially since it involves his cousin Umar Nurmagomedov.
‘The Eagle’ stated: “I think Merab needs to get his rematch in April or May. Umar and O’Malley should fight different opponents. Whoever gets the more impressive win earns the title shot.”
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