UFC Make Major Merab Dvalishvili Announcement on Tuesday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Dean Koutouratsas | Last updated Jun 10, 2025 8:20 PM ET

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili (21-4) retained his belt for the second time by defeating No. 1 contender Sean O'Malley (18-4) via submission at UFC 316 in the third round of their fight on Saturday.

Following his 13th straight victory and second by submission, Dvalishvili, 34, has been moved into second place on the UFC pound-for-pound rankings on Tuesday, behind Islam Makhachev in first. The decision moves heavyweight champion Jon Jones to three and former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria down to four.

Dvalishvili is regarded as one of the promotion's top talents due to his excellent grappling and striking. During his rise to the top of 135 pounds, he defeated division all-time greats in Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo.

Merab Dvalishvili has moved up to No. 2 on the UFC's Men's pound-for-pound rankings after his submission win at #UFC316

Jon Jones previously held the No. 2 spot but remains in the top 3 pic.twitter.com/qGmcg1IExz
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 10, 2025

Dvalishvili captured the bantamweight title by defeating O’Malley via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 306 on Sept. 14, 2024. Before taking on O’Malley for a second time, he defeated Umar Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 to retain his belt.

The only challenger above him on the pound-for-pound rankings is Makhachev, who relinquished the lightweight championship on May 13 to move up to welterweight. The 33-year-old holds a 27-1 record and has won 15 straight.

Makhachev has won 13 of his professional fights by way of submission. These triumphs include ones over fan favorites and lightweight contenders Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira.

At some point, he is expected to challenge newly crowned welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena, but the fight has yet to be announced. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili could defend his belt against bantamweight contenders like Yan or Cory Sandhagen sometime later this year.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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