Sandro Kebadze

Merab Dvalishvili climbs to Number 2 in rankings

The world of hurt is still dreaming of Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria clash, but before that napalm is being thrown to the masses, thenew Pound for Pound rankings are unleashed. Well, with quiet little surprises on it.

Enter Merab Dvalishvili, the Machine.

The Georgian warrior had a fight of his life against always sexy Sean O’Malley for a second time and did the damage again. Dvalishvili was all over the arena, as he destroyed Sean, who knocked on in the third round. The bantamweigh belongs to Dvalishvili, who now has 13 straight wins. Sugar Sean was no match for Merab and his relentless pressure and high class grappling.

Dvalishvili is on a mission. He defended his title for the first time, when he won a five round thriller against Umar Nurmagomedov, when he handed a legendary Khabib’s cousin his first defeat as a pro. He was down in that battle on the scoreboard, but like he often does, he came back with that beasty cardio to score a win. He may still lack some crafty finishes, but he gets those elusive wins. He is a cyborg, that is always on a mission. And, Sean rejoined the list of his victims: Umar, Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo. The list just goes on. And, so does Merab.

The first place still belongs to mighty Islam Makhachev.

Dvalishili holds the second place, a career high for the Machine.

Jon Jones occupies the third place and we are still waiting for that Aspinal clash.

Ilia Topuria will enter the cage soon, will do his usual damage and will still challenge Islam for that do or die battle. The battle of giants it is.

And, the Top 5 closes with always reliable Dricus Du Plessis. Try and knock this beast down.