“Sean Shelby was very impressed” - Merab Dvalishvili ready to serve as backup fighter for bantamweight title showdown at UFC 299

Merab Dvalishvili is just coming off a fight but would be down to compete next month if a title was attached.

Sean O'Malley vs Marlon 'Chito' Vera II goes down at UFC 299 as the former defends the UFC bantamweight title against the latter on March 9th.

Merab Dvalishvili spoke to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour about his intrigue in possibly being a backup fighter for that title bout just weeks away. This is on the heels of Dvalishvili besting former flyweight and bantamweight UFC champion Henry Cejudo via unanimous decision at UFC 298 over the weekend.

When asked by Helwani whether his next fight would be for the belt or not, Dvalishvili said,

"Nothing in person but; so I see first time Sean Shelby he was very impressed. He came in the locker room, he say great fight. Like great fight, he said like, oh this crowd was going crazy on you. I'm like, thank you sir, thank you. Thank you so much for giving me another challenge to show everyone. I am the next contender for the title. I said, let's go, that was it."

When asked a follow-up question about if he'd be down to be the backup fighter for the bantamweight title bout at the next pay-per-view, Dvalishvili stated,

"I am crazy. I am crazy. I will take it, no problem.... No, they no offer me but in press conference somebody ask Dana and he said, hey, we will see."

Check out the clip of Merab Dvalishvili wanting to be a UFC 299 backup below:

Merab Dvalishvili and his current standing at 135 pounds

Dvalishvili is the number two-ranked bantamweight contender per the UFC rankings. The only contender he is behind is longtime teammate Aljamain Sterling, who last dropped his 135-pound belt to current champ Sean O'Malley. Also, Sterling is fighting Calvin Kattar at featherweight at UFC 300 and seems to have his foreseeable future set on 145-pound competition.

Merab Dvalishvili's win over Cejudo also saw him beat the number three contender at bantamweight. His involvement as a backup fighter could thus make a lot of sense, meritocracy-wise.

The 33-year-old dropped his first two UFC fights on points and via submission (to Frankie Saenz and Rick Simon, respectively) but has been streaking ever since in the octagon.

Dvalishvili is on a 10-fight winning streak and the former Ring of Combat bantamweight champion has racked up some impressive victories.

The Georgia native has wins over names like John Dodson, Marlon Moraes, Jose Aldo and Petr Yan to name a few.