Dvalishvili vs Cejudo

Who won Dvalishvili vs Cejudo?

Merab Dvalishvili beat Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of UFC 298, on Saturday 17th February 2024 at Honda Center in Anaheim.

The scorecards were announced as 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of the winner Merab Dvalishvili.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Bantamweight division, which meant the weight limit was 135 pounds (9.6 stone or 61.2 KG).

Dvalishvili vs Cejudo stats

Merab Dvalishvili stepped into the octagon with a record of 16 wins, 4 losses and 0 draws, 3 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Henry Cejudo made his way to the cage with a record of 16 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 8 of those wins coming by knock out.

Merab Dvalishvili's UFC record stood at 10-2-0, while Henry Cejudo's came in at 10-4-0.

The stats suggested Cejudo had a massive power advantage over Dvalishvili, boasting a 50% knock out percentage over Dvalishvili's 19%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Dvalishvili had a slight advantage over Cejudo, with a 6% submission rate over Cejudo's 0%.

Merab Dvalishvili was the younger man by 4 years, at 33 years old.

Dvalishvili had a height advantage of 2 inches over Cejudo. That also extended to a 1-inch reach advantage.

Dvalishvili was arguably the more experienced fighter, having had 1 more fights, and made his debut in 2014, 10 years and 3 months later than Cejudo, whose first professional fight was in . He had fought 11 more professional rounds, 61 to Cejudo's 50.

Dvalishvili vs Cejudo form

Dvalishvili had won all 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 1 opponent and going to the judges 4 times.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Petr Yan at UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili on 11th March 2023 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at The Theater at Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Jose Aldo at UFC 278 on 20th August 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Marlon Moraes at UFC 266 on 4th September 2021 by knockout in the 2nd round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Before that, he was victorious against Cody Stamann at UFC Vegas 25 on 1st May 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest.

He had won against John Dodson at UFC 252 on 15th August 2020 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Cejudo had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 3 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 on 6th May 2023 by split decision in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at Prudential Center, Newark, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 on 9th May 2020 by knockout in the 2nd round in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Marlon Moraes at UFC 238 on 8th June 2019 by knockout in the 3rd round in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at United Center, Chicago.

Before that, he was victorious against T.J. Dillashaw at UFC on ESPN+ 1 on 19th January 2019 by knockout in the 1st round in their UFC Flyweight championship fight at Barclays Center, Brooklyn.

He had won against Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227 on 4th August 2018 by split decision in their UFC Flyweight championship fight at Staples Center, Los Angeles.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Merab Dvalishvili had been fighting more than Henry Cejudo.

Going to this contest, Merab Dvalishvili had last fought 1 year, 1 month and 13 days ago, while Henry Cejudo's last outing had been 11 months and 18 days ago.

Dvalishvili's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 8 months and 9 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 26 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 16 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.2 rounds on average.

Cejudo's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 8 months and 20 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 22 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 16 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.2 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Dvalishvili vs Cejudo?

Merab Dvalishvili was a 9/25 (-280) favourite going into the contest, while Henry Cejudo made his way into the ring at 9/4 (+230) with oddsmakers.