"Las Vegas - As of UFC 320, bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has tied the record for most title defenses in a year, and extended his UFC takedown record to an absolutely insane 117. The next closest fighter in that category is the legendary Georges St-Pierre. With 90. Across a greater number of fights. Dvalishvili put on another dominant showing on Saturday, coming close to finishing Cory Sandhagen in the second round of their co-main event fight."
""I had about 20 takedowns, and this is good of course," Dvalishvili said following his 14th consecutive victory, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. "There was some moments during the fight, I was taking down because I was like 'this is another for my takedown record.' I was just doing it because of the record.""
""I'm just grateful for everything: what I am, how far I came. Like I said before, I'm just getting better. And I feel like this is the beginning for me. It was hard to get here, but now I just keep training hard and keep getting better." Merab Dvalishvili now has his sights set on breaking the record he tied on Saturday: he wants one more title defense this calendar year, hopefully at the final Pay-Per-View of 2025. "I would love to fight in December. Because otherwise, I have to many opportunities to travel somewhere - it's good, I love it, I enjoy where ever I go, but it's going to take away my fights," stated Dvalishvili. "The most I enjoy is this feeling, fighting. I want to be busy. I don't want to wait to make weight too much. The next contender, I think Petr [Yan] is [on a] three fight win streak, he's a former champion, and I think he deserves a title fight. I think so. If the UFC wants, I'm ready to fight in December, no pr""
Merab Dvalishvili tied the record for most bantamweight title defenses in a calendar year and extended his UFC takedown record to 117. Georges St-Pierre trails with 90 takedowns across more fights. Dvalishvili dominated Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320, nearly finishing him in the second round and repeatedly securing takedowns through five rounds. He reported about 20 takedowns in the bout and admitted some were motivated by the record. Dana White called him the bantamweight GOAT. Dvalishvili expressed a desire to fight in December and named Petr Yan as a potential challenger.
Read at Cageside Press
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