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Merab Dvalishvili

Bantamweight · REAL v1.0 (registered) #4; v1.1 (shadow) #4

Descriptive profile. The resume rank is what has been earned; these statistics are context, not a prediction. A test on Oct 20, 2026 found that career statistics add nothing reliable to age, layoff and experience as predictors of the next result (experiments/REGISTER.md, EXP-2026-10-20-14).

Weight band 4-4: the 10th to 90th percentile of his position across weight vectors drawn near the 70/30 weights (the position does not depend on the weights). Rating 1,783, deviation 108: measured from 18 UFC bouts; a one-bout newcomer sits near 290.

Age 35 (born 1991-01-10) · Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) · Reach 68 in (173 cm) · Stance Orthodox · 8 days since last bout (2026-10-24) · Last five 3-2 · Streak L2

Why he is ranked here

Rating 1,783 is the division's highest; the ledger stands at +9.6 (+10.6 from quality wins, less 1.0 for blowout losses; losses count for three years); 11 quality wins in 15 years, 8 over top-10 opponents, which makes him entrenched; no form penalty (3-2 last five). Score +1.41 = +0.74 (rating term, 70% weight) +0.67 (ledger term, 30% weight) -0.00 (form penalty); score order put him at #1; the title-cycle rule (a losing title challenger is held at #4 or lower for 270 days, and the fighters behind move up) placed him #4.

TermValueDetail
Score+1.4170% rating term + 30% ledger term - form penalty
Rating term+0.74resume rating 1,783, scaled against the division's interdecile range
Ledger term+0.67quality ledger +9.6: +10.6 QW +0.0 proof -1.0 blowout -0.0 weak
Form penalty0.00last five 3-2
Quality wins, 15 years118 over top-10 opponents, 11 over top-15; entrenched
Placementscore order #1; title cycle -> #4v1.0 (registered)
Shadow board v1.1#4score +1.38; score order #1; placement rules -> #4

Rules, weights and worked examples: methodology.

Last ten bouts

DateEventOpponentOpp. official rankResultMethodRoundModel p
2026-10-24UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev (title)Petr YanCLunanimous decision5 (5:00)62%
2025-12-06UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs. Yan 2 (title)Petr Yan#3Lunanimous decision5 (5:00)72%
2025-10-04UFC 320: Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2 (title)Cory Sandhagen#4Wunanimous decision5 (5:00)61%
2025-06-07UFC 316: Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley 2 (title)Sean O'Malley#1Wsubmission3 (4:42)62%
2025-01-18UFC 311: Makhachev vs. Moicano (title)Umar Nurmagomedov#2Wunanimous decision5 (5:00)61%
2024-09-14UFC 306: Riyadh Season Noche UFC (title)Sean O'MalleyCWunanimous decision5 (5:00)52%
2024-02-17UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. TopuriaHenry Cejudo#3Wunanimous decision3 (5:00)72%
2023-03-11UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. DvalishviliPetr Yan#2Wunanimous decision5 (5:00)52%
2022-08-20UFC 278: Usman vs. EdwardsJose Aldo#3Wunanimous decision3 (5:00)58%
2021-09-25UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. OrtegaMarlon Moraes#6WKO/TKO2 (4:25)60%

Opp. official rank = the UFC media-panel rank of the opponent on the date (C champion, #1 to #15, unranked; n/a before Feb 2013 or where no official board existed). Model p = the predictive model's pre-fight win chance for him (frozen performance-adjusted Elo; bouts before 2020 were in its tuning sample). Linked opponents have a profile.

Career statistics

Through 2026-10-31, UFC bouts only. Percentile = share of the 86 board fighters at Bantamweight at or below this value; high is a position in the division, not a verdict.

Output
Significant strikes landed per minute4.48(69th percentile at Bantamweight)
Significant strike accuracy41%(19th percentile at Bantamweight)
Knockdowns scored per 15 minutes0.05(38th percentile at Bantamweight)
Share of wins by finish14%(16th percentile at Bantamweight)
Defence and damage
Significant strikes absorbed per minute2.98(29th percentile at Bantamweight)
Significant strike defence53%(47th percentile at Bantamweight)
Knockdowns suffered per 15 minutes0.05(48th percentile at Bantamweight)
Significant strikes absorbed, career966(94th percentile at Bantamweight)
KO/TKO losses0(63rd percentile at Bantamweight)
Submission losses1(90th percentile at Bantamweight)
KO/TKO losses per bout over 10 years, each weighted down by the finisher's danger0.000(64th percentile at Bantamweight)
Grappling
Takedowns landed per 15 minutes5.74(97th percentile at Bantamweight)
Takedown defence76%(68th percentile at Bantamweight)
Share of cage time in control34%(87th percentile at Bantamweight)
Share of significant strikes landed in the clinch or on the ground34%(86th percentile at Bantamweight)
Stylewrestler (18.3 takedown attempts per 15 min; 34% control)
Career stage
Age35.8(88th percentile at Bantamweight)
Age at UFC debut26.9(46th percentile at Bantamweight)
Years since UFC debut8.9(88th percentile at Bantamweight)
UFC bouts18(95th percentile at Bantamweight)
Cage time, minutes324(98th percentile at Bantamweight)
Bouts per year, last three years2.3(91st percentile at Bantamweight)
Days since last bout8(5th percentile at Bantamweight)

Board position since Oct 2023

C24681020252026Oct 2023Oct 20262023-10-06: #5, Bantamweight2023-10-13: #5, Bantamweight2023-10-20: #5, Bantamweight2023-11-03: #5, Bantamweight2023-11-10: #5, Bantamweight2023-11-17: #5, Bantamweight2023-12-01: #5, Bantamweight2023-12-08: #5, Bantamweight2023-12-15: #5, Bantamweight2024-01-12: #3, Bantamweight2024-01-19: #3, Bantamweight2024-02-02: #4, Bantamweight2024-02-09: #4, Bantamweight2024-02-16: #4, Bantamweight2024-02-23: #3, Bantamweight2024-03-01: #3, Bantamweight2024-03-08: #3, Bantamweight2024-03-15: #3, Bantamweight2024-03-22: #3, Bantamweight2024-03-29: #3, Bantamweight2024-04-05: #3, Bantamweight2024-04-12: #3, Bantamweight2024-04-26: #4, Bantamweight2024-05-03: #4, Bantamweight2024-05-10: #4, Bantamweight2024-05-17: #4, Bantamweight2024-05-31: #4, Bantamweight2024-06-07: #4, Bantamweight2024-06-14: #4, Bantamweight2024-06-21: #4, Bantamweight2024-06-28: #4, Bantamweight2024-07-12: #4, Bantamweight2024-07-19: #4, Bantamweight2024-07-26: #4, Bantamweight2024-08-02: #4, Bantamweight2024-08-09: #5, Bantamweight2024-08-16: #3, Bantamweight2024-08-23: #3, Bantamweight2024-09-06: #3, Bantamweight2024-09-13: #3, Bantamweight2024-09-27: title holder, Bantamweight2024-10-04: title holder, Bantamweight2024-10-11: title holder, Bantamweight2024-10-18: title holder, Bantamweight2024-10-25: title holder, Bantamweight2024-11-01: title holder, Bantamweight2024-11-08: title holder, Bantamweight2024-11-15: title holder, Bantamweight2024-11-22: title holder, Bantamweight2024-12-06: #2, Bantamweight2024-12-13: #1, Bantamweight2025-01-10: #1, Bantamweight2025-01-17: #1, Bantamweight2025-01-31: title holder, Bantamweight2025-02-07: title holder, Bantamweight2025-02-14: title holder, Bantamweight2025-02-21: title holder, Bantamweight2025-02-28: title holder, Bantamweight2025-03-07: title holder, Bantamweight2025-03-14: title holder, Bantamweight2025-03-21: title holder, Bantamweight2025-03-28: title holder, Bantamweight2025-04-04: title holder, Bantamweight2025-04-11: title holder, Bantamweight2025-04-25: title holder, Bantamweight2025-05-02: title holder, Bantamweight2025-05-09: title holder, Bantamweight2025-05-16: title holder, Bantamweight2025-05-30: title holder, Bantamweight2025-06-06: title holder, Bantamweight2025-06-13: title holder, Bantamweight2025-06-20: title holder, Bantamweight2025-06-27: title holder, Bantamweight2025-07-11: title holder, Bantamweight2025-07-18: title holder, Bantamweight2025-07-25: title holder, Bantamweight2025-08-01: title holder, Bantamweight2025-08-08: title holder, Bantamweight2025-08-15: title holder, Bantamweight2025-08-22: title holder, Bantamweight2025-09-05: title holder, Bantamweight2025-09-12: title holder, Bantamweight2025-09-26: title holder, Bantamweight2025-10-03: title holder, Bantamweight2025-10-10: title holder, Bantamweight2025-10-17: title holder, Bantamweight2025-10-24: title holder, Bantamweight2025-10-31: title holder, Bantamweight2025-11-07: title holder, Bantamweight2025-11-14: title holder, Bantamweight2025-11-21: title holder, Bantamweight2025-12-05: title holder, Bantamweight2025-12-12: #1, Bantamweight2026-01-23: #1, Bantamweight2026-01-30: #1, Bantamweight2026-02-06: #1, Bantamweight2026-02-20: #1, Bantamweight2026-02-27: #1, Bantamweight2026-03-06: #1, Bantamweight2026-03-13: #1, Bantamweight2026-03-20: #1, Bantamweight2026-03-27: #1, Bantamweight2026-04-03: #1, Bantamweight2026-04-10: #1, Bantamweight2026-04-17: #1, Bantamweight2026-04-24: #1, Bantamweight2026-05-01: #1, Bantamweight2026-05-08: #1, Bantamweight2026-05-15: #1, Bantamweight2026-05-29: #1, Bantamweight2026-06-05: #1, Bantamweight2026-06-13: #1, Bantamweight2026-06-19: #1, Bantamweight2026-06-26: #1, Bantamweight2026-07-10: #1, Bantamweight2026-07-17: #1, Bantamweight2026-07-24: #1, Bantamweight2026-07-31: #1, Bantamweight2026-08-07: #1, Bantamweight2026-08-14: #1, Bantamweight2026-08-21: #1, Bantamweight2026-08-28: #1, Bantamweight2026-09-04: #1, Bantamweight2026-09-11: #1, Bantamweight2026-09-18: #1, Bantamweight2026-09-25: #1, Bantamweight2026-09-26: #1, Bantamweight2026-10-03: #1, Bantamweight2026-10-10: #1, Bantamweight2026-10-17: #1, Bantamweight2026-10-24: #4, Bantamweight2026-10-31: #4, Bantamweight#4

Position on the registered v1.0 board at each weekly snapshot (C = title holder or reserved, drawn at the top; lower is better).

Predictive rating by bout

1,5001,6001,7001,8001,9002,000202020222024Dec 2017Oct 20262017-12-09: 1,514 (L vs Frankie Saenz)2018-04-21: 1,510 (L vs Ricky Simon)2018-09-15: 1,566 (W vs Terrion Ware)2019-05-04: 1,632 (W vs Brad Katona)2020-02-15: 1,685 (W vs Casey Kenney)2020-06-13: 1,714 (W vs Gustavo Lopez)2020-08-15: 1,729 (W vs John Dodson)2021-05-01: 1,746 (W vs Cody Stamann)2021-09-25: 1,789 (W vs Marlon Moraes)2022-08-20: 1,807 (W vs Jose Aldo)2023-03-11: 1,855 (W vs Petr Yan)2024-02-17: 1,876 (W vs Henry Cejudo)2024-09-14: 1,910 (W vs Sean O'Malley)2025-01-18: 1,912 (W vs Umar Nurmagomedov)2025-06-07: 1,938 (W vs Sean O'Malley)2025-10-04: 1,970 (W vs Cory Sandhagen)2025-12-06: 1,933 (L vs Petr Yan)2026-10-24: 1,917 (L vs Petr Yan)1,917

Rating after each UFC bout from the frozen predictive model (performance-adjusted Elo, data/processed/elo_history.csv; a debut starts at 1,500). The resume rating's history is not stored, so this is the predictive line, which is a different number from the resume rating in the header.

Trajectory

Recent performances are in line with the rating (-19 points).

ComponentPointsMeaning
Age component-51what fighters aged 35.8 typically run relative to their rating (population curve, all UFC bouts since 2011)
Own recent results+31his recency-weighted mean and trend over 18 bouts, shrunk toward zero; trend -2 points a year
Combined-19the rating's likely distance from his current performance level, in rating points
Readingin line with ratingahead of, in line with (within 30 points), or behind the rating

Performance relative to the rating, by age

-1.0-0.5+0.0+0.5+1.02627282930313233343536372017-12-09 (age 26.9): L vs Frankie Saenz, residual +0.072018-04-21 (age 27.3): L vs Ricky Simon, residual -0.542018-09-15 (age 27.7): W vs Terrion Ware, residual +0.432019-05-04 (age 28.3): W vs Brad Katona, residual +0.492020-02-15 (age 29.1): W vs Casey Kenney, residual +0.382020-06-13 (age 29.4): W vs Gustavo Lopez, residual +0.352020-08-15 (age 29.6): W vs John Dodson, residual +0.462021-05-01 (age 30.3): W vs Cody Stamann, residual +0.142021-09-25 (age 30.7): W vs Marlon Moraes, residual +0.482022-08-20 (age 31.6): W vs Jose Aldo, residual +0.342023-03-11 (age 32.2): W vs Petr Yan, residual +0.522024-02-17 (age 33.1): W vs Henry Cejudo, residual +0.242024-09-14 (age 33.7): W vs Sean O'Malley, residual +0.282025-01-18 (age 34.0): W vs Umar Nurmagomedov, residual +0.102025-06-07 (age 34.4): W vs Sean O'Malley, residual +0.432025-10-04 (age 34.7): W vs Cory Sandhagen, residual +0.392025-12-06 (age 34.9): L vs Petr Yan, residual -0.322026-10-24 (age 35.8): L vs Petr Yan, residual -0.04-0.03

Each dot is one decided UFC bout at his age then: the performance score minus the rating's expectation, on the score's own scale from -1 to +1 (filled = win, hollow = loss; above zero is better than the rating implied; a finish as a slight favourite is about +0.45). The dashed line is the population curve for all fighters; the solid line is this fighter's own fitted level and trend as of the data date, weighted toward recent bouts. One unit sustained over many bouts corresponds to about 695 rating points; a single bout's residual is noisy.

Held-out evidence (walk-forward 2016 to 2026, EXP-2026-10-21-01): the age curve held in every test year; the individual component is a weak signal (correlation 0.06 with the next bout's residual; among fighters aged 33 or over, the lowest predicted quartile won 38% of next bouts against 53% expected, the highest 48% against 52%) and adds nothing to bout prediction beyond the shadow model. No board uses any of it: the rankings answer who has earned the place, not who wins next (EXP-2026-10-20-09). Method: src/mmalab/decline.py; settings: config/decline.yaml (expectation from the resume rating; one unit of residual is about 695 rating points).

Context flags

Descriptive only. Each line is a population fact about fighters like him, not a forecast for him; the register entries hold the measurements.

REAL v1.0 (registered method) · build c166ee8 · data through 2026-10-31 · page built 2026-11-06 · changelog. Independent fan research project built on public UFCStats data. Not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by UFC, Zuffa, LLC, TKO Group Holdings, or any athlete. All trademarks belong to their owners and are used only to identify athletes and events.