Why UFC Contender Merab Dvalishvili Decided to No Longer ‘Chase the End’ in Fights

Merab Dvalishvili changed his fighting style early in his UFC career.

“The Machine” is on a 10-fight winning streak. Most recently, he defeated former double champion Henry Cejudo in UFC 298. Despite Dvalishvili’s impressive campaign, nine of his 10 wins have come by decision.

However, Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) says this is intentional. After he lost via technical submission to Ricky Simon in his second Octagon appearance in April 2018, Dvalishvili decided to minimize risk and focus on control. He hasn’t lost since.

“My second fight, I was (fighting a) really tough guy, Ricky Simon,” Dvalishvili said in “Bradley Martyn’s Raw Talk.” “He was good everywhere, and I was trying to submit him and then I was going, and going, and punching him, and then I even took him down, (tried) to knock him out. I tried some submission. Nothing was working, but I was winning the fight. There was a minute left and I took him down, I made the decision that I’m going to take him down and finish on top. And when I get up and jump, I hit my head on the ground.

“I passed out and, at that time, he grabbed my neck and tried to choke me from above. I don’t play. I do not sleep. I was still fighting, but the referee said, ‘Oh, he was in and out (of consciousness).’ They gave him a TKO or something. After that, I make a decision, like, you know what? I’m going to knock people down and I’m going to have fun with it. I will not pursue the end and I will not risk it. After that, I became a smarter fighter. Before I was wild. But now I play with my opponents.”

Dvalishvili is expected to be UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley’s next title challenger, but a fight date has not yet been announced.

This story originally appeared on MMA Junkie