So Merab's career aspiration is to be second best after Aljo?

The Legendary Scarface

Record since UFC 266 : 51-34
@Black
Joined
Apr 5, 2019
Messages
6,741
Reaction score
8,899
Is that not what he basically said after the Aldo fight or did I mix something up?
I respect the loyalty but at the same time - damn dawg, how do you not want to be champion in the sport you've dedicated your life to?

This sounds like a first
 
DC supposedly changed divisions because his teammate, Cain was the HW champ.

Let these next round of fights take place. What is true today might not be true tomorrow. At some point you need to do what’s best for you and your family. I honestly have a hard time believing that if Aljo is still the champ two years from now, that Merab would not fight him.

It’s not personal, and they all know that.
 
Sterling has already said that he himself is either going to 145lbs, or Merab is going to 125lbs. I'm sure they'll figure it out after Aljo's fight against TJ.
TJ vs Merab could be a logical fight after Aljo wins. Not sure what else they can do with TJ.
 
Last edited:
Nate said something similar about Gilbert when Gil was champ in Strikeforce. I think it was right before he fought Bendo too, naybe one fight before that.
 
Is that not what he basically said after the Aldo fight or did I mix something up?
I respect the loyalty but at the same time - damn dawg, how do you not want to be champion in the sport you've dedicated your life to?

This sounds like a first
DC avoided fighting Cain at HW while singing his praises and some people argued DC was a better fighter.
 
Merab needs 1 more win before a title shot, I think Merab vs Sandhagen or Chito makes sense but if Chito vs Sandhagen ends up getting made then Merab vs Yan pending Yan beats O'Malley is also a great fight.

Sterling has already said that he himself is either going to 145lbs, or Merab is going to 125lbs. I'm sure they'll figure it out after Aljo's fight against TJ.

I think that's bullshit I'm sorry, if Merab was confident he could make 125 and contend for a belt he would have by now, he wouldn't wait until his mid thirties to emaciate himself and cut down to Flyweight when he's on the verge of a BW title shot. And Aljo will never "move up" to 145lbs, he might try to petition for a "super fight" with Volk but if he doesn't get handed that he won't move up, you can bet the house on that.
 
It used to be a thing back when the belt was all prestige but now the ufc attaches so much money to it. Merab should take any shot he can but also let's be honest the sterling era won't last long anyways.
 
It used to be a thing back when the belt was all prestige but now the ufc attaches so much money to it. Merab should take any shot he can but also let's be honest the sterling era won't last long anyways.

I don't personally feel like Sterling is the best Bantamweight in the world, I think Yan would win a trilogy and I think Umar will be good enough to beat him within a years time....but I'm a chin beard fanboy.

However I think Sterling could keep the belt for another year or two, do you see TJ beating him? I don't, I think Sterling wins this. After that who's next? I think Omalley vs Yan is one of those fights where O'Malley gets a shot with a win but Yan doesn't, I'd take Sterling to beat Sean too. I have a feeling they will line up Chito for a title shot if Yan wins, I think Sterling beats Chito too. Could be 2024 until the Bantamweight title moves hands honestly.
 
right now merab is a hired gun being used by aljo to take down bad match ups against him via point fighting.

as far as your question goes you have to realize merab comes from a simple place. Georgia all they care about hsi food and shelter.

Being in america to begin with the guy already felt like he won the lottery. He is not the most ambitious person. Being in the ufc is probalby more then he imagined and just fhgitng now is sugar on top. When you have low expectations sometimes other things as being the absolute best etc aren't important. Which is okay. Most players in pro sports will never be the absolute best or win championships - but they are happy with the money they make and do something they enjoy.

Merab thinks 30K is a lot of money, so ufc pay is a lottery to him, and he seems to enjoy the competition and training aspects of mma so he is living the american dream right now.
 
right now merab is a hired gun being used by aljo to take down bad match ups against him via point fighting.

as far as your question goes you have to realize merab comes from a simple place. Georgia all they care about hsi food and shelter.

Being in america to begin with the guy already felt like he won the lottery. He is not the most ambitious person. Being in the ufc is probalby more then he imagined and just fhgitng now is sugar on top. When you have low expectations sometimes other things as being the absolute best etc aren't important. Which is okay. Most players in pro sports will never be the absolute best or win championships - but they are happy with the money they make and do something they enjoy.

Merab thinks 30K is a lot of money, so ufc pay is a lottery to him, and he seems to enjoy the competition and training aspects of mma so he is living the american dream right now.

Thats actually a pretty interesting perspective. More power to Merab, I just wish he wasn’t so frustratingly boring to watch.
 
Like beside Machida/Silva we really haven't had teammate avoidance become an issue. BW has tons of depth. If Merab wants to sit on the sidelines until Alijo is done, so be it.
 
right now merab is a hired gun being used by aljo to take down bad match ups against him via point fighting.

as far as your question goes you have to realize merab comes from a simple place. Georgia all they care about hsi food and shelter.

Being in america to begin with the guy already felt like he won the lottery. He is not the most ambitious person. Being in the ufc is probalby more then he imagined and just fhgitng now is sugar on top. When you have low expectations sometimes other things as being the absolute best etc aren't important. Which is okay. Most players in pro sports will never be the absolute best or win championships - but they are happy with the money they make and do something they enjoy.

Merab thinks 30K is a lot of money, so ufc pay is a lottery to him, and he seems to enjoy the competition and training aspects of mma so he is living the american dream right now.

Dude Georgia is a next level fight country. In Greco, Judo, Freestyle and Sambo they are as elite a region as they come for the most part. They also produce a fair amount of good kickboxers, I'm not sure of their boxing scene however be it amateur or professional. It's a fighting country and Merab is a hell of a competitor from Silver at the World Sambo Championships to being a standout Judo competitor with aspirations for being on the Georgian Olympic team until they took away leg reaps around 2008-2010 from the competition rules. Merab actually had a rough start in the UFC losing to Simon and Saenz, he's only just now getting into the title picture and Dana would never give him a shot off the Aldo performance anyways. Merab isn't content where he's at due to coming from a rough region, he wants to be a champion but he also sees Aljo as a brother and is happy for him.

Merab will get his chance, he's only 31 to Aljos 33. Did you know 33 is the oldest Bantamweight champion in UFC history? Cruz, Dillashaw, Garbrandt, Barao and Yan were all younger than 33 when they lost their title and Cejudo was 33 the last time he fought as well (kind of a farce BW champ Cejudo was).
 
Merab needs 1 more win before a title shot, I think Merab vs Sandhagen or Chito makes sense but if Chito vs Sandhagen ends up getting made then Merab vs Yan pending Yan beats O'Malley is also a great fight.



I think that's bullshit I'm sorry, if Merab was confident he could make 125 and contend for a belt he would have by now, he wouldn't wait until his mid thirties to emaciate himself and cut down to Flyweight when he's on the verge of a BW title shot. And Aljo will never "move up" to 145lbs, he might try to petition for a "super fight" with Volk but if he doesn't get handed that he won't move up, you can bet the house on that.

So you think they're going to fight eachother then? Aljo has also said that he'd retire before fighting Merab, especially since, according to aljo, he's financially set already and only fighting because he loves the game. I really don't see these two fighting each other, and I think they'll sort something out soon.
 
Last edited:
So you think they're going to fight eachother then?

No, I don't think they're going to fight but I also think the idea of Aljo going to 145lbs is wolf tickets to talk himself up, outside of being handed a fight vs Volk for the 145lb title he isn't moving up and the only way he'd stay at 145 is if that matchup happened AND he won it.

If Merab thought he would be better suited for 125lbs or if that was even a reasonable option he would have probably done it already, the dude lost his first two fights in the UFC before grinding out this 8 fight win streak, he's 1 fight away from a 135lb title shot. He's not huge for the division but he looks pretty damn lean and dry when he's cutting to make 135lbs, dude competes at 149 for Sambo. Him going to 125lbs sounds like a croc of shit to me.

Aljo is one of the biggest guys so when they're side by side I can see why people think Merab is small, but he's a broad, thick guy with a big torso. They'll wait it out realistically, Merabs gotta win one more big fight still and Aljos going to have to defend twice successfully before this becomes a real issue...very good chance one of them losses by then. Here's Merab cutting before weighing in at 135lbs.
1660935102683629303.jpg
 
Sterling has already said that he himself is either going to 145lbs, or Merab is going to 125lbs. I'm sure they'll figure it out after Aljo's fight against TJ.

I came in here to say this.

/thread
 
I don’t think he has long term UFC goals with the way he fights, his goal is to milk as many checks before the UFC Jon Fitch’s him after his next loss.


I think he’s just taking it fight to fight and it’s almost time for him to jump in the deep waters. Sandhagen, Chito, or Simon are probably next.
 
No, I don't think they're going to fight but I also think the idea of Aljo going to 145lbs is wolf tickets to talk himself up, outside of being handed a fight vs Volk for the 145lb title he isn't moving up and the only way he'd stay at 145 is if that matchup happened AND he won it.

If Merab thought he would be better suited for 125lbs or if that was even a reasonable option he would have probably done it already, the dude lost his first two fights in the UFC before grinding out this 8 fight win streak, he's 1 fight away from a 135lb title shot. He's not huge for the division but he looks pretty damn lean and dry when he's cutting to make 135lbs, dude competes at 149 for Sambo. Him going to 125lbs sounds like a croc of shit to me.

Aljo is one of the biggest guys so when they're side by side I can see why people think Merab is small, but he's a broad, thick guy with a big torso. They'll wait it out realistically, Merabs gotta win one more big fight still and Aljos going to have to defend twice successfully before this becomes a real issue...very good chance one of them losses by then. Here's Merab cutting before weighing in at 135lbs.
1660935102683629303.jpg

I think If Aljo keeps winning, he is likely to get that superfight against the 145lbs champ and then retire. I agree that I don't see him making any sort of long term move to FW, though. I don't see Merab going to 125lbs either. This won't even be a problem unless both of these guys win their next fights, so we'll have to wait to see what happens.
 
I think If Aljo keeps winning, he is likely to get that superfight against the 145lbs champ and then retire. I agree that I don't see him making any sort of long term move to FW, though. I don't see Merab going to 125lbs either. This won't even be a problem unless both of these guys win their next fights, so we'll have to wait to see what happens.

Featherweight is the weirdest division in the sport now when it comes to the title picture and the top 10. I really hope Cejudo either fights Max next at 145lbs or gets tossed into the title picture at 135lbs/has a number 1 contender fight in that division. I'd be shocked if Aljo retires with the belt but I also do feel like TJ Dillashaw, Chito Vera and maybe Cejudo are potentially some of the easiest potential title defenses he could get (and I don't think they're necessarily easy) at 135lbs though. I feel like the 3rd Yan fight has to happen before its all said and done, id' be pretty bummed if it didn't. That story doesn't have an ending yet.
 
Back
Top