Merab Dvalishvili recalls almost joining military after Olympic dreams fell through ahead of Umar Nurmagomedov fight at UFC 311: "MMA came up"

Merab Dvalishvili recently reflected on how he came close to pursuing a military career after his aspirations of competing in the Olympics were shattered. The reigning UFC bantamweight champion is widely regarded as one of the top mixed martial artists in the world and currently holds the No. 7 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.

However, 'The Machine' was once on the verge of giving up on his combat sports career after his aspiration of representing his home country of Georgia in the Olympics was derailed by a rule change in 2008.

During a recent appearance on the OverDogs Podcast, Dvalishvili revealed that he had planned to enlist in the Georgian army until he was introduced to the world of MMA:

"My goal was to compete at the Olympics, but after 2008, they changed their rule, and in judo, you cannot grab the leg anymore. That was my style — to grab the leg with the kimono grip. But after they changed the rules, it was hard for me to compete at a high level and go to the Olympics because everything in the sport is based on style, and my style wasn’t working anymore for judo. I was thinking of joining the army to help my country this way, but thank God MMA came up."

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below:

'The Machine' is set to defend his 135-pound title against Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event at UFC 311, scheduled for Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

Dvalishvili claimed the bantamweight title by securing a unanimous decision victory over Sean O'Malley at UFC 306. With an 11-2 record in the UFC, he is currently riding an impressive 11-fight win streak.

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Merab Dvalishvili lays out a daring three-fight roadmap for 2025

In a recent interview with the UFC, Merab Dvalishvili outlined his ambitious fight plans for the first quarter of 2025.

'The Machine' revealed that once he gets done with his scheduled bout with Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, he intends to make his return in March, followed by another quick appearance in April, where he aims to rematch two of his former opponents:

"I want to be busy in 2025. I'm fighting early on January 18th, and I wanna be busy. I know [Sean] O'Malley wants to come back in April, and I think Petr [Yan] will be ready in March. So, maybe fight Petr in March, rematch [O'Malley] in April. And whoever is the next contender, I will clear the division again."

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below (19:30):