UFC CEO Dana White thinks both Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili made a mistake in their careers by refusing to fight to respect their friendship.
Dvalishvili will be facing Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 in the main card of UFC 298 this Saturday. The No. 2 bantamweight will be entering the cage boasting a nine-fight winning streak, with his latest being a win over Petr Yan in March last year. What makes this bout different from the past, however, is that it marks Dvalishvili’s forward move toward the title shot.
To recall, despite his impressive record, “The Machine” refused to take a title shot against Sterling in the past for the sake of their amity. Many questioned this, including White, who described the move as a “mistake” from both sides.
“Merab sat out and didn’t take a title fight because his friend had the title – all that stuff,” White shared with Kevin Iole in a recent interview. “So I think you’re looking at two guys that, in my opinion, have made some mistakes in their careers.”
Prior to his fight against Sean O’Malley, Sterling originally planned to move to another division and give Dvalishvili the chance to reign in the class weight. However, their UFC 292 main event fight didn’t end well, with “Funk Master” losing his belt to “Sugar.” This, nonetheless, is a blessing in disguise for Sterling and Dvalishvili. With Sterling moving to featherweight and the bantamweight now having a new champ, there is no other way for the Georgian fighter but up. Of course, to do that, Dvalishvili must first defeat Cejudo this weekend and continue his streak to cement his claim to the title shot further.
