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Merab Dvalishvili broke down Henry Cejudo over three rounds in their UFC 298 clash to take a unanimous decision on Saturday. It’s possible Dvalishvili could have gotten the finish when he sunk in a choke in Round 2, but Dvalishvili got distracted by the presence of a billionaire.
“Mark Zuckerberg, we became friends on social media,” Dvalishvili said at the UFC 298 post-fight press conference. “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. 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.”
The UFC 298 broadcast did show Dvalishvili talking to Zuckerberg while holding Cejudo in the guillotine choke. Dvalishvili also immediately raced to cageside after the fight to share a fist bump with the Facebook founder and CEO.
The win over Cejudo extended Dvalishvili’s win streak to 10 fights, with the three most recent coming over former UFC champions Jose Aldo, Peter Yan and Cejudo.
Dvalishvili currently sits as the No. 2 contender to bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley’s title, one spot behind former champion Aljamain Sterling, who will lose his ranking when he moves up to featherweight to face Calvin Kattar at UFC 300.
O’Malley is set to defend his title against Marlon Vera at UFC 299. Dvalishvili is likely the next man up for the winner of that championship bout.