Merab Dvalishvili was involved in his biggest fight to date against former two-division champ and Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 on Saturday night, yet in the heat of the battle he still found to have a laugh and a joke with Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, who was Octagon-side for the occasion.
“Mark Zuckerberg, we became friends on social media,” Dvalishvili said. “He’s been supporting me and we send positive messages to each other. He did text me a couple of days ago that he would be at the fights, but he told me don’t tell no one. I keep a secret, of course. I know he was there and as soon as I go there I saw him and I say ‘Hi’ and ‘Good to see you in person.’
“During the rounds, he was telling me times, ‘30 seconds left,’ he was coaching me. He was my fourth corner tonight,” Dvalishvili said after his convincing decision victory. “So it’s just conversation and then when I got [Cejudo] in the choke, the choke was tight, but I got too excited. I was looking at Mark Zuckerberg and I had too much fun. Maybe I should focus to finish. You know, I’m just a fighter, I’m free, that’s what you do, that was a fun, good, positive conversation.”
“He was giving me some tips,” Dvalishvili continued, before admitting that he can’t remember all the details. “But you know, over there when I was fighting, it’s like good music. Like when you’re really running and you hear good music. I don’t remember exactly now when I look, but at the time it was nice, he was coaching me.”
Dvalishvili’s win was his 10th-in-a-row in the UFC and now appears to have cemented his status as the No.1 contender at bantamweight, paving the way for a title fight against the winner of the upcoming Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera headliner at UFC 299 next month.
