Merab Dvalishvili's head coach shares honest thoughts on gameplan execution against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311:"I expect a hard first couple rounds"

Merab Dvalishvili was able to defend his bantamweight title for the first time this weekend as he defeated Umar Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision at UFC 311. John Wood, who serves as one of 'The Machine's' coaches at Syndicate MMA, predicted that things would go exactly how they did.

Speaking to James Lynch leading up to the bout, the mixed martial arts coach stated:

"Everybody looks at Merab and, sometimes, it's not the prettiest. That's okay. We want to keep it controlled chaos. We want to keep it the way it is and just keep sharpening, getting better each camp. Everybody seems to sleep on Merab... He just has a different pace and a different cardio that that just is such a big weapon."

Wood continued:

"I expect Umar to be able to deal with some of those things, but come third, fourth, fifth round, I think it's going to be a Merab fight. Those first couple rounds, we're going to see how it plays out. I expect a hard couple of rounds, but I expect Merab to do what he does and take over and put that grind and that pace on."

Check out John Wood's accurate pre-fight prediction of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov below:

The bantamweight title bout wound up playing out exactly how Wood predicted. Nurmagomedov was able to start strong in the first two rounds. However, Dvalishvili's pace wore on him as things progressed, ultimately costing him to gas out and lose the fight.

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Ilia Topuria praises Merab Dvalishvili's performance at UFC 311

Ilia Topuria was among those who praised Merab Dvalishvili following his first title defense at UFC 311. The featherweight champion took to Instagram the day after the bout with words of encouragement for his fellow Georgian fighter, stating:

"I just rewatched the fight, and it was truly dominating in every aspect, not just wrestling. You controlled his mind, cardio, and strength. You showcased a whole different level of performance. All the credit and respect goes to you. Georgia loves you ! If God is with us who against us ❤️👏🏻"

Check out Ilia Topuria's Instagram post praising Merab Dvalishvili below:

Topuria took to X in the immediate aftermath of the bout to praise Dvalishvili for the first title defense of his UFC career. 'El Matador' claimed that the performance was an example of when Dagestani wrestling meets Georgian wrestling.