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T.J. Dillashaw recently hailed one aspect of Merab Dvalishvili's skill set following his impressive win over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. 'The Machine' overwhelmed the Dagestani with his takedowns and pace as the fight progressed.
The Georgian successfully retained his bantamweight championship for the first time despite his opponent being listed as a heavy favorite. Nurmagomedov got the better of Dvalishvili with his striking early on in the bout, but 'The Machine' turned things around by stuffing 'Young Eagle's takedown attempts and fatigued him in the exchanges that followed.
During JAXXON PODCAST's special UFC 311 recap episode, the former bantamweight champion heaped praise on both competitors for their bout living up to the hype and shared his thoughts on the betting lines favoring the challenger.
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Dillashaw mentioned that 'Young Eagle's affiliation to Khabib Nurmagomedov played a role and noted that Dvalishvili has been successful because of his mental toughness in those situations of being counted out:
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"Those first two rounds, though, if Merab [Dvalishvili] wasn't made the way that he was made, he would have lost that fight. Like, this fight was awesome, fantastic. Merab straight up won because of grit and his cardio. His just will to win, like, this guy's will to win is insane and I love it about him. I would say, [Umar] Nurmagomedov was the more skilled fighter, but you can't replace mental toughness, physical strength and I think he's insanely strong too."
Check out T.J. Dillashaw's comments below:
T.J. Dillashaw heaps praise on Reinier de Ridder following UFC 311 win over Kevin Holland
In addition to sharing his thoughts on Merab Dvalishvili's win over Umar Nurmagomedov, T.J. Dillashaw heaped praise on Reinier de Ridder for his impressive win over Kevin Holland at UFC 311.
During the aforementioned episode, Dillashaw noted that he wasn't too familiar with de Ridder and believes he will be successful in the UFC after seeing him submit Holland in the manner in which he did:
"Yeah, [de Ridder] looks good. I mean, it's early...I don't know much about him and I think we didn't get to see any of his striking. I would have to go back and watch his old fights, but he put on an impressive performance and beat a skilled fighter in Kevin Holland."
Check out T.J. Dillashaw's comments below:
