Merab Dvalishvili Promises To Take Down Jose Aldo At UFC 278, Remains Coy On Title Shot Chances
Regarded as one of the best defensive wrestlers in the division and the entire organization today, former undisputed UFC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo – has been met with a wrestling challenge from opponent, Merab Dvalishvili ahead of UFC 278, who promises to take the Brazilian off his feet.
Aldo, the current #3 ranked bantamweight contender, is slated to return to the Octagon later this month against surging Georgian grappler, Dvalishvili – in a potential title-eliminator at 135lbs.
Undefeated in his last two Octagon appearances, Aldo has turned in back-to-back, vintage striking displays en route to a pair of dominant decisions wins over both Pedro Munhoz, as well as a December headlining win against Rob Font.
As for Dvalishvili, the streaking wrestling force has seen injuries hamper his recent activity inside the Octagon – with his most recent outing coming back in September where he landed his seventh straight win with a second round ground strikes win over common-foe, Marlon Moraes at UFC 266. The win earned Dvalishvili a post-fight Performance of the Night bonus.
Merab Dvalishvili promises to crack Jose Aldo’s takedown defense stature
Approaching the most high-profile matchup of his Octagon tenure to date, Dvalishvili remains confident that he can find a chink in the takedown defense armor of Aldo – who is revered as one of the promotion’s better defensive wrestlers.
“You guys will see, I’m gonna take him (Jose Aldo) down,” Merab Dvalishvili told The Schmo during a recent interview at Syndicate MMA. “You guys will see – my takedowns is different, I know he defends, he has the most – good defense, like wrestling takedown defense. You guys will see, I will take him down, I think more than three times.”
A victory for Dvalishvili would likely dislodge Aldo from his #3 perch in the division, as well as land the Georgian his eighth consecutive victory. However, given the fact his teammate – Aljamain Sterling, currently resides atop the bantamweight throne, Dvalishvili is not rushing a show at 135lbs spoils.
“Like I said, I don’t care about the title now,” Merab Dvalishvili explained. “I just wanna win against Jose Aldo, I have so much respect for him. And like, that’s all I want. I don’t care for a title shot, for now – especially at 135, like, my brother, Aljamain Sterling, he’s the king of this division.
