Merab Dvalishvili aka ‘The Machine’ is a force to be reckoned with. He lives up to his moniker by being persistent and uber-strong. The bantamweight fighter with a record of 17-4-0 is fighting Sean O’Malley at the iconic UFC 306 and the stakes are high as usual. However, it seems like one particular legendary coach is not worried at all.

Mike Tyson’s ex-coach Teddy Atlas is sure that Dvalishvili will ace this event. It is interesting to note that Atlas is a huge supporter of Sean O’Malley as well, who is ‘The Machine’s’ opponent in this fight. Yet, he showed his faith in the Georgian fighter so let’s see what he had to say.

Merab Dvalishvili gets a powerful supporter

The legendary boxing trainer uploaded an Instagram picture with the Georgian American bantamweight and wrote, “I know there’s the BMF Belt, but this guy @merab.dvalishvili wears one every day, and a full Gentlemen too. Respect.” It is a notion that MMA fighters might not fare very well in boxing but Teddy Atlas has chosen his next star. Atlas had previously said that ‘Suga’ could cross over to boxing and hold his ground. Interestingly, now he is also supporting Dvalishvili and Mike Tyson’s ex-coach said that ‘The Machine’ was capable of a BMF belt!

Atlas had previously noted O’Malley’s strength and the fact that ‘Suga’s’ physique was perfect for being a boxing champ. Apparently, the legendary coach thinks that O’Malley is a great natural counterpuncher. Atlas had declared to MMA Junkie, “If you walked into a room, and he (Sean O’Malley) was on TV and you wouldn’t see that he’s not wearing shoes, and you saw him strike, you might think you’re watching a boxing match. He’s that smooth. He’s that natural with it, that comfortable with it. He controls range and distance beautifully, and he can punch. He gets good power. Wiry guys usually can’t get good power.” Although Atlas holds ‘Suga’ in high regard, he is also supporting the latter’s opponent.

He is surely supporting the Georgian-American and O’Malley as well, or maybe he changed his choice. Who knows? All we know for now is that the beef outside the octagon between the starfighters is rising as fast as lava from a volcano.

Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley get into a nasty argument

O’Malley is known to get under his opponent’s skin with his mind games before a fight. He is loved as much as he is hated for this by other fighters. This time too, ‘Suga’ took the help of snide remarks during the trash talk but it might have escalated a bit. O’Malley insulted Dvalishvili’s country by tweeting, “Are all Georgians ru*ts?”  The Georgian might have an American citizenship now but he adores his home country. This low blow did not sit well with him and he gave a firm reply to ‘Suga’. In a recent press conference, Dvalishvili said that even if he did not take the fight personally, this comment made it personal.

As a proud Georgian, he considers his country as a provision of his religion. He said that he respected his country, “Because my country, it’s more than religion for me. I have my country here (points toward his necklace), and that’s why I started fighting. Because I want to represent my country. And this is healthy competition. This is what we do. Then when somebody, it doesn’t matter who disrespects your family or your country. You have to be mad. If you’re man you have to be mad and I wanted to smack his face that time.”

For now, ‘The Machine’ has one goal: to take O’Malley’s belt for himself. After that, he said he could think about ‘talking’ to his opponent and keeping it professional. How do you think the fight will end? Will Dvalishvili win? If he does then would he ever fight for the BMC belt?