UFC 298 witnessed the peak performance of Merab Dvalishvili. In the match against Henry Cejudo, he lost the opponent in the first half, but won convincingly the remaining 2 rounds to win. Merab also shows the ability to lock very well even though the opponent has won the Olympic Games.
Henry Cejudo is also the 3rd former championship that receives defeat against Merab Dvalishvili. The previous generals of Gruzia boxers were Petr Yan and Jose Aldo. That helps Merab Dvalishvili extend the series of victories in the UFC arena to 10. He has been unbeaten since September 2018.
Witnessing the impressive performance of Merab Dvalishvili, UFC President Dana White personally confirmed the opportunity to compete for the championship. He said that the next match of the Gruzia boxer was also the Bantamweight UFC belt match, when he was No. 1 on the tournament rankings.
The opponent of Merab Dvalishvili in the upcoming match is the winner of the talented pair between Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera in UFC 299. O'Malley currently holds the championship after defeating the Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292.
On the side of Aljamain Sterling, the former champion prepared Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. This is also the first match of Sterling at the weight of Featherweight. One of the reasons for Sterling to play is because he does not want to encounter Merab Dvalishvili, you practice with him at the club.