LAS VEGAS – Merab Dvalishvili got pushed to the limits.
The UFC bantamweight was close to getting finished in his bout against Marlon Moraes before mounting a comeback and pulling off the win on the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC 266.
Dvalishvili (14-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) scored a TKO finish over Moraes (23-9-1 MMA, 5-5 UFC) at the 4:25 mark of Round 2.
The bantamweight bout closed out the UFC 266 preliminary card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPNews following early prelims on ESPN+ and ahead of the main card on pay-per-view.
It was an admirable and gutsy showing by Dvalishvili.
He was caught with a hard left hook early in Round 1 and took many follow-up shots that had him stumbling all over the cage. On the verge of getting stopped, Dvalishvili scored a takedown with two minutes left in the round and got to work. Dvalishvili landed heavy ground-and-pound and hurt the Brazilian until the bell rang.
How did Merab survive this 🤯
[ #UFC266 | Prelims Live NOW on ESPN+ & ESPNews ] pic.twitter.com/JSn96gVPbi
— UFC (@ufc) September 26, 2021
In the second round, Dvalishvili got busy early, dropping Moraes and getting top control. From there the Georgian fighter was relentless with his ground strikes. Moraes was unable to get back to his feet and defend many of the shots thrown his way. The referee saw enough and waved off the fight.
What a comeback victory for @MerabDvalishvil 🔥
[ #UFC266 | Live on @ESPNPlus & ESPNews ] pic.twitter.com/tk1wM7wgbi
— UFC (@ufc) September 26, 2021
With this win, Dvalishvili is now on an impressive seven-fight winning streak. The 30-year-old last saw defeat in 2018 in a submission loss to Ricky Simon.
Meanwhile, Moraes find himself on a three-fight losing streak and 1-4 in his past five bouts. Moraes’ last win came in December 2019, scoring a controversial split decision over former UFC champion Jose Aldo.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 266 results include:
-
Merab Dvalishvil def. Marlon Moraes via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:25
- Dan Hooker def. Nasrat Haqparast via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Chris Daukaus def. Shamil Abdurakhimov via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:23
- Taila Santos def. Roxanne Modafferi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jalin Turner def. Uros Medic via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:01
- Nick Maximov def. Cody Brundage via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Matthew Semelsberger def. Martin Sano via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:15
- Jonathan Pearce def. Omar Morales via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:31
