Merab Dvalishvili doubles down on referee criticism following Aljamain Sterling loss
By Amy Kaplan
Merab Dvalishvili is about as devoted a friend as anyone could ask for.
He's given up his own chance at the title for months due to his best friend Aljamain Sterling holding the belt and now, he's waging a war with referee Marc Goddard on behalf of Sterling for his loss.
First, he took to Twitter after the fight to voice his anger at what he felt was an early stopPage.
"Another F**king Early Stoppage! I pray that me or my teammates don't have Mark Goddard in the cage again. We are FIGHTERS ... let us fight til the end!"
Another Fucking Early Stoppage! I pray that me or my teammates don't have Mark Goddard in the cage again. We are FIGHTERS ... let us fight til the end ! #UFC292
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) August 20, 2023
Merab Dvalishvili says he has 'markgoddardphobia' after 'early stoppage'
Then on August 21, he took to Facebook to voice his displeasure.
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) August 22, 2023
"I have 'markgoddardphobia' not only because of what happen last Saturday. He was cageside ref when I fought Ricky Simon in 2018," Dvalisvili wrote. "After I fought hard in the last minute to not tap out from a choke, I made it to the bell, The main ref in the cage let me fight til the end because He saw I was not sleeping and kept moving to show I was still fighting to the end. So Mark Goddard didn't let them use the judges' score which I dominated first two rounds. He pushed everyone to say I lost consciousness in the middle of the choke but I was never out. First they say I lost to TKO but now if you check my record they changed it to a technical submission. Any new fans that didn't see this fight ... go check it out and let me know what you think. We work so hard .. are ready to die in the cage ... Let us fight til we can't fight anymore."
And on Tuesday he re-iterated that he would wait for up to two years for Sterling to get his rematch.
Dvalishvili is ranked No. 1 in the division and as such should be getting the next title shot. But after O'Malley called out Marlon Vera and Sterling asked for a rematch, Dvalishvili will wait in the wings again.
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