Merab Dvalishvili shares hilarious story about why he stopped sparring with Ilia Topuria

The story of why they don’t spar anymore came up during Dvalishvili’s recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.

“He’s so organized. Ilia, he sees things before, he works for it, and he has plans,” Dvalishvili said of Topuria.

“I can’t spar with him anymore [laughs], because he hits [too] hard. He dropped me two times from body shots.

“Thank God that my head is fine! Every time that I finished sparring with him, I was happy, ‘Thank God it’s over!”’

Dvalishvili has shown throughout his career that he can take a shot – most recently in his latest win over O’Malley – but even he doesn’t like the idea of sharing rounds with a big-hitting lightweight like Topuria anymore.

With two current UFC champions, Georgia now has more belts than the United States, whose only titleholder at the moment is women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison.

Ilia Topuria vs Paddy Pimblett showdown hits potential delay after UFC 319 star leaks fight

After his win over Oliveira, Topuria didn’t waste time turning his attention to Paddy Pimblett, a bout fans have been waiting for. The two even had a tense faceoff just minutes after the fight.

However, Dricus du Plessis may have thrown a wrench into those plans. According to du Plessis, Pimblett is set to face Justin Gaethje in the co-main event of UFC 319 – a matchup that is yet to be officially announced by the UFC.

Dana White, the UFC CEO, was also non-committal when asked about a Topuria vs Pimblett fight after UFC 317, suggesting that fans might have to wait a bit longer before the matchup becomes a reality.