UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili is anything but ordinary. He has incredible conditioning and endless stamina. This year, he broke the UFC’s all-time record for most takedowns with a whopping 117, beating the legendary Georges St-Pierre’s 90 takedowns.
Merab Dvalishvili: record breaker
In a recent title fight, Dvalishvili knocked Cory Sandhagen down 20 times, making “The Sandman’s” takedown defense look like a sandcastle. This set a record for the most takedowns by a fighter in a UFC title fight, and he was one takedown away from tying Khabib Nurmagomedov’s record for most takedowns in a UFC fight.
Dvalishvili’s unconventional training method
Many are probably wondering how Merab Dvalishvili is so good. In a recent podcast with Demetrius ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, the Georgian player revealed many of his unconventional training methods and showed his willingness to go to great lengths to be the best.
Dvalishvili explained that he would stop eating and drinking on Tuesday night before Friday’s weigh-in in order to lose weight for each fight. He continues to train on Wednesdays and Thursdays, opting to sweat and lose water through exercise, even though he doesn’t consume anything to fuel him on those days. He never resorts to saunas or hot tubs to lose weight.
The Georgia native explained that his mental strength will get him through this situation. “When I run to sweat and get hungry or thirsty, I want to cry, but I end up laughing.” That kind of mental strength in the face of adversity is a clear example of why he was nicknamed “The Machine.”
Merab Dvalishvili also admitted that he hardly stretched or even warmed up. The 34-year-old doesn’t want to waste time, so he only trains for combat-like scenarios and wants to win as many rounds as possible.
However unconventional his approach may be, it’s working. ‘The Machine’ is on a 13-fight winning streak, the longest in UFC bantamweight history, and is already making a strong case for being the best bantamweight in the organization’s history. It will be interesting to see if he can extend this winning streak in his next fight.