While Dvalishvili won’t find any frozen ponds in Nevada to hone his toughness, there are plenty of other opportunities for him to achieve next-level training alongside the man that sits atop his weight class.
“I believe in my cardio and conditioning because I’m training with the champion and many other good fighters,” Dvalishvili said. “I have the confidence that I can fight 15 or 25 minutes. I’m ready, and I’m gonna leave everything in the Octagon this Saturday.”
A veteran of going the 15-minute distance, the 30-year-old said he’s anticipating an active, high volume “15-minute war” with Stamann.
“Everybody knows he’s strong. Good striker, good wrestler, really strong and stocky. I’m ready and I’m going to throw everything. I’m going to try to take him down, get up, scramble, everything. It’s going to be a good fight I believe because I’m going to keep pressuring him and I’m going to show people a good fight.”
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And while a clash of similar styles inside the Octagon usually alludes to a predictable fight, Dvalishvili feels it will be anything but predictable.
“He’s a wrestler, I have a wrestling style, but I’m a judo black belt. So maybe he’s better at wrestling, but this is MMA,” Dvalishvili said with a smirk spreading across his face. “This is a fight. One punch can change everything. I can strike, like I showed in my last fight with Dodson. I took him down only two times and he got up, so I was striking with him. It’s not a problem for me. If he thinks he’s going to wrestle me, I think it’s going to be a mistake because I’m going to throw punches.”
