‘Fire the ref’ – Worrying footage shows Merab Dvalishvili getting choked out for 60 seconds in lone stoppage loss

Merab Dvalishvili suffered a scary loss during his early days in the UFC. The proud Georgian has won 10 consecutive fights to earn a shot at Sean O’Malley ’s bantamweight title at UFC 306 – otherwise known as Noche UFC – on September 14. A win at the £2billion Las Vegas Sphere would complete Dvalishvili’s epic journey from 0-2 UFC star to the best 135lb fighter in the sport of MMA .

The 33-year-old lost two of his first three fights as a pro before putting together a six-fight winning run and earning a contract from the promotion's CEO Dana White . However, his journey in the UFC got off to a bad start when he suffered a split decision defeat against Frankie Saenz in December 2017. Dvalishvili was on track to redeem himself in his second UFC fight against Ricky Simon before he shot in for an ill-advised takedown with 60 seconds left in the final round.



Simon immediately locked up a tight guillotine choke and didn’t let go. The Canadian fighter quickly sat into the mount position and continued squeezing on Dvalishvili’s neck looking for the finish. UFC commentator Paul Felder was shouting ‘He’s out’ while the referee watched on as Dvalishvili’s body appeared to go limp during the submission attempt.

The UFC 306 star was allowed to stay in the fight because he was able to kick his legs to show that he was still conscious despite the commentator’s concerns. Dvalishvili gave the referee a thumbs-up with 15 seconds left on the clock, but Simon kept applying pressure to his neck until the final bell sounded. When he released his grip, Dvalishvili’s head bounced off the canvas and he didn’t move until Simon pointed to the official to show him that his opponent had gone to sleep.

Only then did ‘The Machine’ show some signs of life as he insisted he was still conscious and tried to stand up before the UFC doctors made him lay back down on the floor. After a lengthy break to determine exactly what happened, referee Liam Kerrigan declared Simon the winner via TKO at 5:00 of the third round. Much to the annoyance of Dvalishvili, who thought he had done enough to secure his first UFC win courtesy of 29-28, 28-27 and 29-28 scorecards from the judges.

Ahead of his UFC title shot, footage of Dvalishvili’s only stoppage loss has been circulating on social media and fans can’t believe he was allowed to be in a choke for so long. One person tweeted: “Ref needs to be fired immediately.” Another said: “That's f****** brain damage.

” A third person added: "I think he may have gone out 3 times. Look how limp he goes when they drop to the ground hard on his head. His limbs are limp and then it seems he comes to in the choke.

" Someone else joked: “ Conor [McGregor] tapped two times watching this.” Since that fight, Dvalishvili has gone on a truly impressive run of wins. Former champions Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, and Jose Aldo have all been on the receiving end of dominant losses to Dvalishvili in his past three fights.

Now O’Malley is all that stands in the way of Dvalishvili making his world championship dream come true..