Merab Dvalishvili put in another dominant display during his latest title defence, and he is starting to look a cut above the rest of the division.
Dvalishvili, who has not lost a fight in over seven years, once again imposed his relentless style to hold onto the bantamweight belt at UFC 320.
It is becoming more apparent that there is no one in the division with a skill set built to dethrone him.
Cory Sandhagen was thought by some to be one of the few fighters who could challenge ‘The Machine’, but he only managed to take the first round on two of three scorecards before Dvalishvili took control.
Even Khamzat Chimaev’s one-sided win over Dricus du Plessis did not quite match what Dvalishvili accomplished in one key area – pushing forward for nearly an entire fight without slowing down.
Merab Dvalishvili sets UFC title fight record for most takedowns
Going into UFC 320, Merab Dvalishvili was already the all-time leader in takedowns across the promotion, sitting on 97.
Speaking to MMA Junkie before the event, Dvalishvili had said he was not actively chasing the 100-takedown mark, but figured it would come with time.
However, during his post-fight press conference last Saturday, ‘The Machine’ admitted that there were moments when he focused on takedowns purely to add to his record.
“It was some moments during the fight, I just kept taking [him] down because I’m like, ‘Oh, this is another for my takedown records’. I was just doing it because of the records,” the bantamweight champion revealed.
| Fighter with most takedowns in a single UFC title fight | Opponent | Event | Total takedowns |
| Merab Dvalishvili | Cory Sandhagen | UFC 320 | 20 |
| Sean Sherk | Hermes Franca | UFC 73 | 16 |
| Demetrious Johnson | Kyoji Horiguchi | UFC 186 | 14 |
| Demetrious Johnson | John Moraga | UFC on Fox 8 | 12 |
| Khamzat Chimaev | Dricus du Plessis | UFC 319 | 12 |
| Georges St-Pierre | Dan Hardy | UFC 111 | 11 |
| Cain Velasquez | Junior dos Santos | UFC 155 | 11 |
Dvalishvili finished with an eye-opening total of 117 career takedowns after UFC 320. He also set a new single-fight record for a title bout by landing 20 takedowns against Sandhagen.
Merab Dvalishvili closing in on another historic UFC milestone
Dvalishvili’s non-stop grappling pressure has become a nightmare for anyone trying to slow him down.
It is that same style that has helped him put together one of the longest win streaks the promotion has ever seen.
| UFC fighter with the most consecutive wins | Total consecutive wins |
| Anderson Silva | 16 |
| Islam Makhachev | 15 |
| Kamaru Usman | 15 |
| Merab Dvalishvili | 14 |
Dvalishvili now finds himself just two victories away from matching Anderson Silva’s record for the most consecutive wins in UFC history.
‘The Machine’ is eager to keep his momentum going, having expressed interest in stepping back into the cage as early as December.
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