Merab Dvalishvili Dating History: Is the UFC Bantamweight Champ Single or Taken in 2025?
By Ali Hammad November 20, 2025 10:41
Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili doesn’t stop. Not in the cage, where he’s chained together a UFC-record 17-fight win streak en route to three successful title defenses in 2025 alone. Not on the mats at Serra-Longo Fight Team, where his cardio drills have become the stuff of Long Island legend 20 takedown reps on a single opponent, then shadowboxing for dessert. And certainly not in life, where the 34-year-old Georgian-American champ is now publicly hunting for the one thing his grappling arsenal can’t secure: a wife to build the family he’s long dreamed of. As of November 2025, with a pound-for-pound ranking at No. 3 and a bantamweight strap that’s starting to feel like an extension of his arm, Dvalishvili remains defiantly single. But in a year of milestones, his off-octagon candor has turned “The Machine” into MMA’s most relatable bachelor.
Dvalishvili’s romantic ledger is as sparse as his knockouts just one official stoppage in 21 UFC wins, a second-round KO of Marlon Moraes at UFC 266 in 2021. Born in Tbilisi in 1991, he traded the streets of Georgia for New York at 21, chasing MMA dreams amid cultural clashes and language barriers. Early dating? A foggy montage of awkward texts and fleeting connections, mostly back home where sambo sessions left little room for courtship. “In Georgia, it’s traditional family first, love second,” he told EssentiallySports in a January 2025 sit-down, fresh off his first title defense. “But I came here broke, fighting for visas and rent. Girls? They saw a wrestler, not a winner.”
His most candid heartbreak spilled in a 2023 chat with content creator Nina-Marie Daniele, a viral clip that’s aged like fine wine (or, in Merab’s case, chacha). “All the girls I was dating or texting left me,” he confessed, eyes twinkling with that trademark humor masking the sting. The confession, laced with self-deprecating charm, painted a picture of a fighter too relentless for romance women bailing when his 5-foot-6 frame couldn’t promise stability, or when training camps swallowed weekends whole. Daniele, ever the provocateur, followed up in her 2025 documentary The Adventures of Nina and Merab in Georgia, dragging him to Tbilisi cafes in a mock “wife hunt.” “Merab’s perfect match? Loyal, Georgian roots, and able to keep up with his energy,” she narrated, as he grilled a waitress on family values. Spoiler: No sparks, but the episode racked 2.5 million YouTube views, turning his quest into fan-favorite folklore.
By mid-2025, as Dvalishvili prepped for his rematch with Sean O’Malley at UFC 316, the bachelor narrative hit overdrive. On DC & RC, Daniel Cormier prodded: “You’re the champ now — what’s the dating profile say? ‘UFC king, endless takedowns, zero drama’?” Merab fired back, deadpan: “Dating sites not good for wives, brotha. You get all the wh*res there.” Cormier dissolved in laughter, but Dvalishvili doubled down: “It’s time to find a good quality wife, respectful woman, and start a beautiful family. Priority Georgian teamwork, like in the gym.” The clip exploded on X, spawning #MerabWifeHunt memes and marriage proposals from fans in Tbilisi to Toronto. “I’m looking for a partner, a friend,” he clarified in a September Sportskeeda interview, post-UFC 316 submission win (a third-round north-south choke that snapped O’Malley’s chinstrap). “She doesn’t need to work if she doesn’t want I got the belts for that. But loyalty? Non-negotiable, like my cardio.”
That cardio, by the way, isn’t hyperbole. At UFC 320 in October 2025, Dvalishvili shredded Cory Sandhagen in a unanimous decision masterclass (50-45, 49-46 x2), landing a UFC-record 20 takedowns in a title fight pushing his career total to 117, eclipsing Khabib Nurmagomedov’s 113. He outstruck Sandhagen 147-112 in significant strikes, absorbed just 2.3 per minute (a career low), and clocked 45:12 of control time stats that scream machine, not man. “I padded a little, yeah,” he admitted post-fight, grinning. “But if I stop wrestling, who am I? Same with love I keep going till I get it right.” His 2025 ledger? Flawless: unanimous decision over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 (Jan. 18, 49-46 x3, thwarting the unbeaten phenom’s guillotine bid); the O’Malley sub at UFC 316 (June 7); and the Sandhagen demolition. At 21-4 overall, with 14 UFC wins by decision, he’s the division’s metronome 6.2 takedowns per 15 minutes, tops in bantamweight history.
Yet beneath the unbreakable facade, Dvalishvili’s single status feels like the one vulnerability in his armor. No Instagram couple pics (his feed? 80% training montages, 20% Georgian flags). No courtside arm candy at Knicks games. Insiders whisper of a near-miss back in 2019 a Tbilisi fiancée who bolted when he signed with the UFC, citing the travel toll. “I thought about quitting MMA for her,” he revealed in Netflix’s 7 Days Out docuseries, voice softening. “Settle down, kids, normal life. But the cage called louder.” That loyalty echoes his bro code: He skipped title shots while pal Aljamain Sterling reigned, waiting his turn like a patient predator. “Friends over belts,” Sterling tweeted post-Merab’s coronation. “That’s why he’s champ everywhere.”
As 2025 winds down, Dvalishvili eyes a fourth defense against Petr Yan at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 a trilogy rubber match where “No Mercy” vows revenge for their 2021 split-decision war. Yan, 3-2 in title fights, quipped: “Merab’s machine breaks when life hits no wife, no anchor.” Harsh, but it stings because it’s half-true. At a September Vegas gala, Merab scanned the room, half-joking to Marca: “Where’s my Georgian queen? I got the gold; she brings the heart.” Fans flooded his DMs “Marry me, Machine!” but he’s holding out for substance over swipes.
In MMA’s meat grinder, where egos bruise and exes spill (looking at you, McGregor), Dvalishvili’s solitude is his superpower. Single in 2025? Yes. But with a net worth cresting $8 million (bolstered by Venum deals and a $2.5M O’Malley purse), a silver Sambo medal from 2019, and Georgia’s first UFC king on his resume, he’s got time. “Love’s like wrestling,” he told Daniele in Georgia, as they dodged matchmaking aunties. “You fall, you get up, you chain it till it sticks.” As the year closes, “The Machine” hums on belts gleaming, heart open, forever grinding.
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