A bantamweight fight between Marlon Moraes and Merab Dvalishvili is headed for UFC 266 on September 25th according to multiple sources.
It’s a big fight for both men, but for different reasons.
In Moraes case, this is a must-win match-up as the former title contender is coming off three losses in his past four fights.
That slump began when he was TKO’d by Henry Cejudo in a battle for the vacant bantamweight strap almost exactly two years ago. He then rebounded with a narrow split decision win over Marlon Moraes, but he’s since suffered two more TKO defeats against Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font to seriously dent his title ambitions.
On the other hand, Dvalishvili’s UFC career began poorly with back-to-back losses, but he’s since found his stride and compiled no less than six wins in a row inside the Octagon, beating the likes of Cody Stamann, John Dodson, Casey Kenney and Brad Katona along the way.
Dvalishvili only holds the No.10 spot in the 135lb ranks heading into this fight though, while Moraes is still hanging on to the No.6 spot.
Moraes vs. Dvalishvili would join a UFC 266 card that’s set to be fronted by two title fights, including a light-heavyweight battle between current champion Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira, along with featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega also fighting following their recent stint as coaches on TUF 29.
