Outside Source
Dvalishvili (21-5) successfully defended his title thrice this year, most recently against Cory Sandhagen this past October. “The Machine” put his title on the line a fourth time against Petr Yan, looking to set the record for the most UFC title defenses in a calendar year. However, Yan (20-5) dethroned Dvalishvili at UFC 323 on Saturday in Las Vegas.
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Addressing the loss, Dvalishvili’s coach repeatedly said that four title fights a year were a lot. According to Wood, four weight cuts a year were even more taxing than the fights. However, Wood refuses to go into details, as he doesn’t want to make excuses.
No Excuses
“Four title fights in a year is a lot,” Wood told Submission Radio . “It’s a lot. And even the title fights, I don’t think that part’s as hard as the weight cuts… This camp was a lot. It was a lot. I’m not gonna speak for Merab, I’m not gonna go makes excuses for him… It was a lot for all of us, definitely a lot for him… You know, he’s been on record multiple times saying weight cutting is not his favorite part of the game.”
Wood also politely dodged a question about Dvalishvili’s health heading into the fight. Wood reiterated that he doesn’t want to speak for Dvalishvili and believes his fighter won’t make any excuses as well.
“One: I don’t think any fighter is a 100% going into any fight. Two: I’m not gonna speak about that. That’s upto Merab to talk about. Even if he wasn’t or if he was, he’s never going to make excuses. I won’t make excuses for him.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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