"Probably the best team performance" - Fans react as Merab Dvalishvili celebrates Georgia securing historic place in Euro 2024 knockout stages

Merab Dvalishvili has not competed since defeating Henry Cejudo via unanimous decision on the main card of UFC 298 earlier this year. While he appears to be next in line for the opportunity to challenge Sean O'Malley for the bantamweight title, nothing has been made official yet.

As 'The Machine' awaits news on his next bout, he was on hand as his home country of Georgia advanced to the knockout stage of the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship in their first year qualifying for the tournament. Giorgi Kiknadze shared footage of the No.1-ranked bantamweight celebrating, captioning the post:

"Congratulations Georgia! [Georgia flag] ♥️"

Check out Merab Dvalishvili celebrating Georgia advancing to the knockout stage below:

Fans reacted to the historic performance. @shawn1wolvesfc labeled it the best performance of all the teams in the group stages of the tournament:

"Well deserved probably the best team performance out of every1 this tournament congratulations 👏 👏 👏"

@kub.468 claimed that the team played a great game:

"Georgians played one hell of a game! Congrats guys!"

@undisputed._.mma suggested that this could be a big year for Georgian sports:

"It would be crazy if Georgia can get to the Quarter-Finals of the Euros in the same year that Merab wins the UFC Bantamweight title 😱 💯 [Georgia flag] 👊"

@marsegura43 congratulated Merab and the Georgian people:

"Congratulations Merab and Georgians, great match, long live football and mma ⚽👊🏼❤️ saludos [Costa Rica]"

Check out the best fan reactions below:

Fan reactions

Merab Dvalishvili fires back at Sean O'Malley's X poll

Merab Dvalishvili will likely receive the next opportunity to challenge Sean O'Malley for the bantamweight title. The pair have engaged in back-and-forth trolling for quite some time. 'Suga' recently shared a poll to X in which he asked fans:

"Is Merab a vi*gin ?"

The No.1-ranked bantamweight fired back, claiming that O'Malley could receive that information from the child of his mother:

"Ask your baby mama"

After the poll was finalized, he added:

"Yes!! The results are in .. I am a vi*gin! Any Sean O'Malley fans want to volunteer to take my vi*ginity ??? 😂😉🦾"

Check out Sean O'Malley's tweet and Merab Dvalishvili's responses below:

The two fighters have continued to promote the fight, however, a date has yet to be announced. There have been rumors that the pair could headline UFC 306, which is set to mark the promotion's first event at the Las Vegas Sphere.