On a recent episode of the Simple Man podcast, UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili offered an inside look at how his early days in combat sports shaped him…
And why Sambo posed a greater mental challenge than MMA:

In judo and Sambo, I was nervous because it’s hard.
It’s like, one point can change everything, score everything.

He went on to explain that it wasn’t just the ruleset that made Sambo difficult – it was the uncertainty:

Then you win one match, you have second match, different guy.
You never know who you’re gonna fight.

It’s very hard to win. That was harder than MMA.

Despite the pressure, Dvalishvili described the thrill he experienced when he made the move to MMA:

In the moment I started, I was so excited. You feel like a gladiator.
You’re gonna go crazy.

I was feeling excited, really. I want to go in and just fight hard.

But as his career evolved, so did his mindset.
The nerves that once defined his early fights began to fade:

After a couple fights later, now I remember just (around) 2020, I was in locker room and I feel nothing.

I’m like: “I was nervous, but why I’m not nervous (now)?”
I don’t feel that I have a fight.

That numbness to the moment has followed him into more recent bouts:

I guess it’s how I feel now, and then even like last couple fights, I will say last, I don’t have any feeling.
I actually have to make myself motivated.