Top bantamweights Marlon Moraes and Merab Dvalishvili will meet inside the Octagon at UFC 266.
Specifically, the news was first reported by coach Ray Longo on the Anik & Florian Podcast. The fight will take place on September 25. Merab Dvalishvili is on a 6 fight win streak and has looked incredibly hard to defeat inside the UFC cage. In particular, Dvalishvili’s relentlessness for takedowns makes the bantamweight such a difficult fighter to compete against.
Marlon Moraes will fight Merab Dvalishvili at #UFC266 on September 25th. (per @raylongomma on @AnikFlorianPod) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN pic.twitter.com/9UO0UGyj6G
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) June 15, 2021
In his last fight against Cody Stamann in May, the Georgian native showed off his new striking skills. While Dvalishvili relied on his wrestling a few times, his tempo and conditioning became the story of the fight.
On the other hand, Moraes is looking to bounce back after two devastating losses. First, the bantamweight faced Cory Sandhagen and lost the fight via wheel-kick knockout. Then, took another tough opponent on in Rob Font who finished him with strikes in the first round.
Undoubtedly, Moraes has faced tough competition and will need a statement performance to get back on track. After all, Moraes is a former title contender and gave the great former double champion and Olympian Henry Cejudo a run for his money back in 2019.
While the momentum of both fighters vastly differs at the moment, it is still a huge opportunity for both men as they each carry a legitimate name in the bantamweight division.
With the addition of Marlon Moraes vs. Merab Dvalishvili here is an up-to-date list of fights scheduled for the UFC event on Sept. 25:
- Jan Błachowicz  vs.  Glover Teixeira
- Jéssica Andrade  vs.  Cynthia Calvillo
- Uros Medic  vs.  Jalin Turner
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