Joe Rogan described the moment he realised Merab Dvalishvili was a ‘scary character’

When he first joined the UFC, Merab Dvalishvili wasn’t particularly regarded as a future champion in the sport, but things changed over time.

On December 6, Merab Dvalishvili will defend his title for the fourth time this year when he takes on former foe Petr Yan in the UFC 323 main event.

The Georgian’s quick turnaround comes after he successfully defended his bantamweight title against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320, once again showcasing his dominance.

And with another win over ‘No Mercy’ Yan, ‘The Machine’ would undoubtedly separate himself as the greatest bantamweight fighter of all time, overtaking Dominick Cruz.

UFC 323 fight card

Joe Rogan describes the moment he realised Dvalishvili is ‘a scary character’

When he first joined the premier promotion in 2017, Dvalishvili suffered two losses and didn’t show a lot of promise.

However, following a loss to Ricky Simon, the Georgian bounced back by going on a huge streak of 10 wins in a row, one of which came against Henry Cejudo.

Going into that fight, many fans saw it as ‘The Machine’s’ biggest test due to ‘Triple C’s’ wrestling background.

Despite that, early in the fight, Dvalishvili showcased his extremely dominant wrestling style by controlling the former UFC double champion in every position the fight went into.

At one point, the Georgian even picked Cejudo up and threw him over his shoulder and began to walk him to the other side of the cage so that he could talk to Dana White and Donald Trump during the beating.

Dvalishvili went on to dominate all three rounds and was awarded the unanimous decision win, further proving his potential as the bantamweight GOAT.

And it was the performance that stood out to UFC icon Joe Rogan, who stated that it was his performance against Cejudo that made him realise Dvalishvili is a ‘scary character’.

“Merab is an animal, man. What he did to Henry Cejudo, I was like, I cannot believe this even happened,” he said during an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.

“When he carried him, when he picked him up and he’s like, he stuck his tongue out and he walked over towards where the UFC people were and then slammed him, slammed Henry Cejudo, Olympic gold medalist. Who the f— does that?

“This dude Merab is a scary character because that motherf—– never gets tired… His heart is enormous man, he’s unstoppable,” Rogan continued.

Is Merab Dvalishvili the greatest bantamweight of all time?