Khalil Rountree can prove that Merab Dvalishvili is one of them.
Their head coach is John Wood, and in their respective corners at UFC 320 last Saturday, they witnessed Dvalishvili’s latest title win as he defended his bantamweight belt against Cory Sandhagen, and Rountree’s heartbreaking third-round knockout loss to Prochaska.
The partnership means Rountree is aware of Dvalishvili’s behind-the-scenes preparations, and Rountree was shocked to see the bantamweight champion’s actions hours before his bout with Sandhagen.
“Merab in the gym, it’s really hard to say he’s different in the cage than he is in the gym,” Rountree said. jackson Podcast. “I promise this is 100 percent true. On Saturday, October 4th, at 12pm on the day of the fight, Merab sparred in the cage for five rounds. Alive. On the day of the fight. Because that’s who he is.”
Dvalishvili has a legendary reputation for having an endless gas tank, and along with his powerful wrestling and rapidly improving striking, he has established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of this era. Despite Sandhagen putting up a valiant effort against Dvalishvili, the defending champion nearly finished Sandhagen with blows in the second round, ultimately advancing to a decision victory.
Suffice it to say, Rountree was in awe of what he saw from Dvalishvili on match day.
“We’ll have five full live rounds at 12 o’clock and less than half a day until we’re in the arena for the biggest fight of our careers,” Rountree said. “It’s just him, you can’t make it up.
“So, to get around that, it’s just another experience. Most guys would sit in a hotel room or try to collect their thoughts or do something. They might even go for a bike ride on an assault bike to burn off some energy. I’ve never seen anyone in my life who sparred for a full five rounds on the day he had to fight and then did another five rounds with Cory Sandhagen. He’s a different breed, but as he says, he comes to the gym the same way he comes to his fights at night. It’s funny to be around, but it’s great.”
As for Rountree’s own fight at UFC 320, he found himself on the other side of the octagon against a different kind of Jiri Prochaska. Rountree bested the unpredictable Prochazka over two rounds, but succumbed to the attack in the third round as Prochazka went into full berserker mode.
Rountree has stated multiple times that he has no interest in repeating his title fight with Alex Pereira, which left the feisty Rountree with several facial injuries. When asked what was going through his head as Prochazka stepped up his attack, Rountree could only guess.
“I didn’t want this kind of fight, even in pre-fight interviews and stuff,” Rountree said. “I didn’t want this kind of fight. It wasn’t my plan. I knew it could happen, I wasn’t going to avoid it, but I didn’t ask for it. …Regardless of what he was going through in that moment, I wanted him to I know there were some questions because I know he ate some big shots, I know there was a moment at the end of him where he was like, “Oh, damn” – so maybe there was something in him that he had to bring out. Perhaps he did. I had to tell myself that I needed to go there to land a good left hook. If we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t have won the match.
“It seems that way to me, but I’m just an observer. I don’t know what that means.”