Merab Dvalishvili has never hidden his appreciation for wrestling, but during a recent conversation with Dominick Cruz’s podcast, the UFC bantamweight champion went into detail about why he believes wrestlers deserve far more recognition than they receive.
The discussion centered on wrestling’s place within combat sports and the sacrifices athletes make in pursuit of success. For Dvalishvili, one of the biggest issues is how little reward often awaits even the sport’s elite competitors.
“What was bad about wrestling is the good wrestlers, they don’t get the respect they deserve,” Dvalishvili said.
He pointed out that even world-class accomplishments often go unnoticed outside wrestling circles.
“Even if they got second place in the world, nobody knows. No money.”
According to Dvalishvili, the reality is especially harsh considering the number of athletes who dedicate years of their lives to the sport without ever receiving widespread recognition.
“About 99.9 percent of wrestlers train their whole lives and never get much in return. They don’t get recognition or money, just the benefit of becoming strong and healthy. But people don’t always see the sacrifices involved, from the weight cuts to the discipline and everything else they have to endure.”
Cruz responded by mentioning RAF, noting that the promotion is helping shine a spotlight on wrestlers and their accomplishments. Dvalishvili quickly agreed and reiterated his passion for the sport.
“Even for me, I love wrestling, and I always was doing wrestling even though I’m a judo guy,” Merab said. “And wrestling is the best.”
Dvalishvili also explained how his involvement with RAF has deepened his appreciation for wrestling in recent years.
“I now love it like 10 times more because I feel really love with it, and I find it fun.”
What stands out to him now is the simplicity of the sport compared to the physical toll of mixed martial arts.
“Even during the training, I realize how easy this is. You don’t get injured. You just wrestling. It’s no big deal,” Dvalishvili said. “You get taken down. Even if you lost the wrestling match, it’s no big deal.”
The conversation later shifted toward Dvalishvili’s own development as an athlete and the challenges he faced transitioning from judo to MMA. While his grappling background gave him advantages, he admitted it also created technical habits that needed correcting.
“I come from a judo background and I don’t have a good base for MMA, which is jiu-jitsu and freestyle wrestling,” he explained.
Dvalishvili described some of the mistakes he would routinely make early in his career because of the differences between judo and MMA.
“When I was taking people down I was giving my back because in judo you don’t hold the position, and I was making a lot of mistakes.”
Those deficiencies became a major focus after relocating to Las Vegas.
“Now, last couple years, especially when I moved to Vegas, I try to correct my mistakes.”
Looking ahead to his upcoming trilogy match with Petr Yan, Dvalishvili revealed that he has simplified his preparation and is relying more on experience and instinct than technical over-analysis.
“Right now I’m just going to trust my figh ting instinct,” he said. “I don’t need to make a technical, like I don’t need to overthink about it. Whatever I will see open, I’m just going to punch and do my thing.”
