"Were off to a rough start in the beginning" - Dana White admits rocky start with Merab Dvalishvili but praises his fighting spirit

While Merab Dvalishvili now stands as one of the UFC's most active champions, his relationship with Dana White has not always been smooth. However, it seems 'The Machine' has since managed to win over his boss completely.

During a recent interview with TNT Sports, White admitted that he was off to a rocky start with the Georgian, before praising him for his indomitable mentality and ability to make quick turnarounds between fights:

"Merab and I were off to a rough start in the beginning. You have to respect someone who's done what he's done, and the guy wants to keep fighting, and wants to break this record and defend the title more times in a year than anybody has ever done. I love guys who want to fight all the time."

Check out Dana White's comments on Merab Dvalishvili below:

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The rocky start White alluded to could be his dissatisfaction with 'The Machine' for refusing to fight Aljamain Sterling.

For context, White got into an impasse with Dvalishvili after he refused to fight for the bantamweight title as long as his close friend, Sterling, held the belt. As a result, 'The Machine' would end up fighting for the belt at UFC 306 in 2024, nearly a year later than he otherwise could have.

The 34-year-old will next be seen against Petr Yan at UFC 323 in December. A win at the pay-per-view would see him surpass lightweight legend Khabib Nurmagomedov for the most title defenses in a year, with four.

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Dana White open to UFC: Georgia event featuring Merab Dvalishvili

It looks like Merab Dvalishvili is in for one grand homecoming soon, as Dana White appears eager to bring the UFC to the bantamweight champion's home country of Georgia.

In the same TNT Sports interview, the MMA promoter revealed that he had recently met with a Georgian official to discuss potentially hosting a UFC event there. White elaborated:

"I was literally at a meeting today, and there was a guy there who was from the government of Georgia, and he's literally like, 'I want to talk to you guys. I want to bring a fight to Georgia.' Literally happened this afternoon at a meeting I was at earlier. So, yeah, I'd like to take [Dvalishvili] home." [10:00 minutes into the interview]

Edited by Ujwal Jain