Outlook: In many ways, by which I mean a grappling-heavy way, Merab Dvalishvili is the boogeyman in the bantamweight division. His relentless grappling and heart make him a miserable person to fight, and he has yet to get a chance to follow up on his comeback victory over Marlon Moraes at UFC 266. Also hoping to follow up on a win over Moraes is Song Yadong, whose emphatic knockout win was his third in a row and second-straight finish. They both might need to fight down to get a shot at someone above them. “Chito” could be the newest face in the Top 5 if he bests Font in their main event tie, and he could also provide a fun matchup with both Dvalishvili and Yadong.
“Triple C” himself seems to be back in the USADA testing pool, and although Cejudo hasn’t competed since 2020, the 35-year-old has remained active in the sport, bringing in the likes of Deiveson Figueiredo, Zhang Weili, Jon Jones and Jiri Prochazka to train at Fight Ready MMA in Arizona. He has long teased the idea of fighting Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight strap, but Sterling expressed his own interest in Cejudo. If Cejudo’s return is real, it makes an already chaotic bantamweight title picture a little more so.
