Ilia Topuria predicts Merab Dvalishvili vs Alexander Volkanovski after trying to make super fight happen

Ilia Topuria believes Merab Dvalishvili would dethrone Alexander Volkanovski at featherweight

From the moment that Ilia Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the featherweight title, he made one thing very clear.

‘El Matador’ wasn’t concerned with staying at featherweight for a long time and clearing out the division to produce a legendary title reign at 145 pounds.

While Topuria has stated that he wants to move to welterweight in the near future, Merab Dvalishvili is focused on breaking records that will be difficult to match at bantamweight.

Dvalishvili has been asked before about whether he’d want to move up to potentially challenge himself in a new division.

A super fight between Dvalishvili and Volkanovski would certainly be fascinating, though ‘The Machine’ hasn’t targeted this as a priority.

Speaking with Betsson Sport in a recent interview, Topuria stated that he’s tried to convince the bantamweight champion to take this step.

He also claimed to have “no doubts” that this potential matchup will end with Dvalishvili raising another piece of UFC gold above his head.

“I’ve already told Merab that he needs to change weight classes because he 100% has a chance to win a second belt. As for a fight against Volkanovski, I have no doubts on what happens in that fight. I know that it ends with Merab winning.”

Merab Dvalishvili and Alexander Volkanovski’s stats compared

When you look at the tale of the tape for a potential fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Alexander Volkanovski, the most interesting aspect is that they’re not that physically different.

However, when you look at some of the key statistics from their UFC careers, this is where you can clearly see where their styles differ.

The relentless takedowns from Dvalishvili are clear to see in his stats, though that’s why Volkanovski would make for such an interesting opponent.

We’ve not seen ‘The Great’ get dominated by a grappler before, even when he went up to lightweight to challenge Islam Makhachev.

Dvalishvili might not seem in a rush to make the fight happen but it would certainly be a fascinating matchup if it were to happen in the next year or so.