UFC 298 Results: Merab Dvalishvili Demands 10-Round Fight After Statement Win

Henry Cejudo concluded his brief retirement Saturday night at UFC 298, taking on Merab Dvalishvili in a bantamweight contender bout. 

In a back-and-forth affair, Dvalishvili weathered an early Cejudo storm to win the fight by unanimous decision (29-28, 3x). Dvalishvili controlled the majority of the second round, nearly securing a front-end guillotine in the closing seconds.

Round 3 showed more of the same, as Dvalishvili used his wrestling to control the pace of the closing five minutes.

Dvalishvili, fired up in front of the sold-out Honda Center crowd, let it be known what was next.

“I was working so hard,” Dvalishvili said in his post-fight interview. ”Nothing easy.”

Dvalishvili called out Sean O’Malley and requested, while unrealistic, a 10-round bout for the bantamweight strap.

“Whoever will be champion, I don’t care,” Dvalishvili said.

Cejudo entered the fight on the heels of a UFC bantamweight title loss to Aljamain Sterling, keeping himself right in the thick of the bantamweight title picture.

Cejudo said pre-fight that getting back to the top of the division is his biggest goal before he officially hangs up the gloves. The former double-champion did promise retirement with a loss, which he was unable to clarify immediately following the result.

It was Dvalishvili’s 10th-straight win dating back five years, as he was discovered by Dana White as part of his “Lookin’ For a Fight” series, making him one of the most successful fighters to come off the show.