Merab Dvalishvili recently shared his thoughts on why Ilia Topuria deserves a rematch against Justin Gaethje.

An unbeaten Topuria, who was also the lightweight champion, took on Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 in June 2026. ‘The Highlight’ handed the 29-year-old a one-sided beatdown, winning via TKO (corner stoppage) at the end of round 4 and eventually winning the lightweight belt.

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 14: Justin Gaethje strikes Ilia Topuria of Spain in the UFC lightweight championship fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn at the White House on June 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Topuria suffered multiple facial injuries and only recently made a full recovery.

On N3on’s stream, Merab Dvalishvili explained why a rematch between Topuria and Gaethje needs to happen. He told the streamer:

If you ask me, I think Gaethje should give Topuria rematch…Ilia was champion and he needs rematch. Ilia was 45 (145lbs) champion, defended his belt, moved up, finished Oliveira, and he just went to war, and then you don’t give him rematch, cut him off…I know that Arman [Tsarukyan] is a good fighter…I have couple of belts, I will give Arman one belt. ‘Hey Arman, you gotta belt.’ Now make Ilia vs. Gaethje.

Check out Merab Dvalishvili’s comments below:

Ali Abdelaziz Recently Claimed Justin Gaethje vs. Ilia Topuria Rematch Is Off

Ilia Topuria recently accused Justin Gaethje of tampering with his gloves during their UFC Freedom 250 fight, which drew sharp criticism from the majority of the MMA community toward ‘El Matador.’

In the wake of this, in an interview with Submission Radio, manager Ali Abdelaziz claimed that the rematch between Gaethje and Topuria will never happen.

I believe Justin Gaethje will beat him nine out of 10 time. You know why? Justin has his number… this fight will never happen. I can tell you this.

He then brought up the glove dispute:

If Ilia wants to say that Justin had rocks in his hands, that’s a compliment to Justin and how hard he punches…The Las Vegas Commission was there, the D.C. Commission was there; three commissions watched him fight with those gloves.

Check out Ali Abdelaziz’s comments below:

Gerard Crispin

Gerard Crispin is an editor and writer with expertise across MMA, Football, Tennis, Cricket, NBA and F1. He has published over 3500 articles in Combat Sports, across multiple websites, viz. Sportskeeda, FanSided MMA, MediaReferee, FirstSportz and PFSN. Crispin currently covers UFC for LowKickMMA.