'Disappointed' Merab Dvalishvili explains why he has zero interest in wrestling Arman Tsarukyan in RAF

Merab Dvalishvili missed out on a chance to compete at RAF 8 two weeks ago . Yet, he also had the opportunity for a bigger match than he was originally booked for. The former UFC bantamweight champion was set to wrestle against his fellow former 135-pound titleholder, Henry Cejudo, until Cejudo withdrew for undisclosed reasons just hours before the event.

Dvalishvili shared on Wednesday’s episode of “The Ariel Helwani Show” that a showdown with UFC lightweight star and top contender Arman Tsarukyan was then presented to him as a backup option. That same night, Tsarukyan was already slated to wrestle Urijah Faber, who Tsarukyan ultimately defeated via 13-1 tech fall. Dvalishvili, however, wasn’t interested — especially after seeing Tsarukyan run Faber off the mats at RAF 8 and slam the UFC Hall of Famer onto the concrete floor.

"They did offer me Arman Tsarukyan, but that matchup doesn't make sense,” Dvalishvili told Uncrowned. “Arman wants to compete with me, with Urijah, and if he pulled out with Urijah, it's weird. And also, he's two weight classes bigger than me.

I was thinking about it, but I saw what Arman did against Urijah Faber, legend — I was disappointed. Arman should not have thrown him out like that. But Urijah is a very good man and very good fighter, and more respect for him and how he handled this situation after, because I don't like how Arman threw him out.