Top UFC Bantamweight fighter Merab Dvalishvili once got thrown around like a rag doll during a sparring session with kickboxer Katarina Kavaleva.
Katarina Kavaleva, a 32-year-old Belarusian heavyweight fighter, stands at six-foot-four and weighs around 200lbs manhandled Dvalishvili and the video clip spread like a wildfire back in 2022.
Katarina Kavaleva rag-dolled Merab Dvalishvili
Dvalishvili is certainly of the best bantamweight fighters but the height disparity proved to be a huge problem while sparring with the Belarus international. Standing at five-foot-six, Dvalishvili didn’t stand much of a chance against the female kickboxer.
The sparring session saw some strikes and Katarina Kavaleva flaunted her smooth movement and kicking prowess before Dvalishvili tried to outpower her.
‘The Machine’, who is known for his wrestling skills, was eyeing to use his ground game to his advantage by putting her on the floor during their friendly fight.
However, Kavaleva was able to block his takedown attempt and instead lifted up Dvalishvili quite comfortably. While in an actual fight, she could have planted her opponent to the ground but in this case, Katarina Kavaleva decided to playfully spin the-then MMA title contender around like he was a rag doll before gently placing him back on the floor.
In 2019, she represented Belarus in the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and won a bronze medal at heavyweight and also picked up a world title in kickboxing.
Merab Dvalishvili will face Henry Cejudo at UFC 298
Dvalishvili is set to face former two-division champion Henry Cejudo in the co-main event of UFC 298 in February. Following the announcement of the bout, Cejudo claimed the winner would earn a title shot against the winner of the upcoming bantamweight title bout between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera at UFC 299.
Merab Dvalishvili has nine-match win streak since enduring a loss against Ricky Simon back in 2018, including wins over former UFC champions Jose Aldo and Petr Yan in his two most recent bouts.
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