UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili recalls getting dropped twice by Ilia Topuria in sparring: 'He hits too hard'

Yahoo

01-07-2025

Ilia Topuria may already be worthy of legend status before he turns 30 years old. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Merab Dvalishvili and Ilia Topuria are two of the best fighters on the planet.
Thanks to their shared Georgian backgrounds, the pair of UFC champions and pound-for-pound stars have grown close during their rises to MMA gold. June was a big month for each, starting with Dvalishvili's second successful bantamweight title defense with his submission of Sean O'Malley at UFC 316. Topuria followed that performance with style points of his own, capturing lightweight gold with a brilliant first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 this past Saturday.
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Speaking in-studio on Monday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show" from Las Vegas, Dvalishvili sang Topuria's praises — and revealed that his countryman is now too lethal to even spar with.
"He's just special. He's just different, man," Dvalishvili said of the new lightweight champ. "He's so smart, he's so organized. Even, he's different than his brother [UFC fighter Aleksandre Topuria]. His brother also very talented, very good fighter, but Ilia, he's sees things before [they happen]. He works for it, he has a plan, and he's just doing it, man.
"I've sparred with him. He has great wrestling, great jiu-jitsu, and we all know that he hits [hard]. I can't spar with him anymore, he hits too hard. ... He dropped me two times from body shots. Thank God, my head is fine. Every time I finish sparring with him, I was happy and thank God, it's over. He hits very good."
Both champions are riding lengthy win streaks into the second half of 2025, though Topuria remains unbeaten in totality after 17 professional fights, with his past three wins coming at the brutal expense of all-time legends.
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Topuria, 28, has been touted as the sport's next potential superstar since before his UFC featherweight championship reign even began early last year. Seeing firsthand how Topuria is not only a fighter, but also as a person, only boosts that idea for Dvalishvili.
"He speaks our language Georgian, he speaks English, he speaks Spanish, I think he speaks Russian too, which I don't speak Russian. I don't know. Maybe he speaks others too," Dvalishvili said. "He's so smart, man. He was born in Germany, but he's 100% Georgian. Some people make fun of, 'Oh, you were born in Germany.' Yes, but he grew up as a Georgian, and then also he experienced Georgia. He was in school in Georgia, he had street fights in Georgia. He experienced it all.
"When he was growing up in Georgia, his parents immigrated to Spain, and then he was growing up with his grandfather and grandmother. He was growing up in one of the ghetto towns."
While a potential fight against lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett would be the exception, what makes Topuria's rise even more impressive is that he's ascended to stardom without a heated rival. While his supreme confidence can be misconstrued as arrogance, "El Matador" has shown massive respect to his recent three legendary opponents: Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and most recently, Oliveira.
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Topuria was even famously heard apologizing to "Do Bronx" before UFC 317 for having to fight him — and for the consequences that would ultimately come with it.
Dvalishvili recalled sharing words of advice with Topuria before the fight, helping to maintain that focus and channel proper energy into the matchup regardless of any personal feelings.
"He even told me the day before, like, 'Bro, it's crazy. [Oliveira is] such a nice guy, and I just finished the press conference with him. He's such a nice guy,' and I told him, '[Alexander] Volkanovski was also such a nice guy, but tomorrow, [Oliveira] is your enemy. You can be friends after. You just gotta go do your thing,'" Dvalishvili said.
As for Dvalishvili, he expects his next bantamweight title defense to come opposite Cory Sandhagen. Ideally, Dvalishvili hopes for a return in October, but is also highly enticed by the possibility of competing in New York's Madison Square Garden for the first time in November.
"I want to fight as soon as possible," Dvalishvili said. "They have an event here in Las Vegas, October 4, I think. I want to fight soon. I don't want to wait much. Maybe I should wait until November, MSG."