Merab Dvalishvili offered his explanation for his rematch loss to former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo this past weekend at RAF 12…
Where Cejudo flipped him early, scored a quick takedown, and secured the pin in just 36 seconds.
The win avenged Cejudo’s earlier loss to Dvalishvili at RAF Georgia and earned him the inaugural RAF Lightweight Crossover title.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Dvalishvili admitted he didn’t have adequate time to prepare for this particular match:
It was risky since I beat him [Henry Cejudo] in wrestling… I knew he was preparing something.
I know he was gonna study me, and I don’t have time to really train for wrestling like this.
I’m focused for my fight always.
He explained that his usual approach to RAF wrestling matches leaves little room for dedicated preparation:
If I have a wrestling match in RAF, I usually [prepare for] about week, as a second training, but yeah, I lost this match. I was smiling. I was happy for him.
Merab Dvalishivili admits he didn’t have enough time to properly train for his RAF rematch against Henry Cejudo:
“It was risky since I beat him in in wrestling… I knew he was preparing something. I know he was gonna study me, and I don’t have time to really train for wrestling… pic.twitter.com/IuPNssAvtF
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 24, 2026
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