Merab Dvalishvili to wrestle Marlon Moraes, who badly hurt him in 2021, at RAF Abu Dhabi
Dvalishvili recovered to stop Moraes in round two at UFC 266. The freestyle rematch on 14 November comes three weeks after his UFC 333 defeat by Petr Yan and on the same day as UFC 334.
Marlon Moraes is Merab Dvalishvili's opponent at RAF Abu Dhabi. Real American Freestyle (RAF) named him on Wednesday, more than five years after he had Dvalishvili badly hurt in the UFC, and the pair will meet under freestyle wrestling rules at the Etihad Arena on 14 November.
"#RAFABUDHABI JUST GOT EVEN BETTER," RAF wrote on Instagram. "Merab Dvalishvili takes on Marlon Moraes NOV 14 at Etihad Arena." The promotion had added Dvalishvili to the card without an opponent, saying a reveal was coming soon.
They met at UFC 266 in Las Vegas in September 2021, when Dvalishvili was badly hurt early before recovering to stop Moraes by TKO at 4:25 of the second round.
Moraes retired from MMA in 2023 after a loss to Gabriel Braga in the PFL. He returned this August with a unanimous decision win over Maximiliano Perez at Liga Monstro Combate 2. A former UFC bantamweight title challenger, he holds wins over former UFC champions Aljamain Sterling and Jose Aldo.
Dvalishvili arrives three weeks after a unanimous decision defeat by Petr Yan at UFC 333, in the same building. That left him on a two-fight MMA losing streak, after Yan also outpointed him at UFC 323 last December.
The wrestling opponent he named before UFC 333 was Henry Cejudo. "Yes, why not? I'd like to have a trilogy with Henry Cejudo, and Abu Dhabi would be a great place," he told Red Corner MMA at UFC 333 media day. Cejudo faces Song Yadong at RAF 15 in Chicago on 28 November.
RAF Abu Dhabi takes place on the same day as UFC 334. Khamzat Chimaev against Colby Covington headlines the card in a cruiserweight crossover title bout, with Arman Tsarukyan against Neiman Gracie and Umar Nurmagomedov against Urijah Faber also on the show.
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