An anticipated bantamweight matchup between top 135-pound contenders Henry Cejudo and Merab Dvalishvili is set to take place at UFC 298 in February.
Cejudo, a former bantamweight and flyweight champion, announced the matchup in a video posted to his YouTube channel Sunday. Although there has not yet been an official announcement from the UFC regarding this matchup, ESPN’s Marc Raimondi confirmed verbal agreements are in place for the bout to take place at the Feb. 17 event in Anaheim, Calif.
UFC 298 is currently scheduled to be headlined by a featherweight title fight between champion Alexander Volkanovski and undefeated 145-pound contender Ilia Topuria.
“I’m not sure if we’re going to co-headline this fight with Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski but either way this fight is absolutely going to be bonkers,” Cejudo said.
Dvalishvili, 32, has won nine consecutive fights dating back to 2018, including a five-round decision over Petr Yan in March, and likely would have already earned a title shot had his friend and teammate, Aljamain Sterling, not previously held the title.
Cejudo, 36, lost a split decision to Sterling in their May title fight in what was Cejudo’s first Octagon appearance in three years.
March’s UFC 299 is slated to be headlined by a men’s bantamweight title fight between current champ Sean O'Malley and his rival Marlon Vera. The winner of Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo would theoretically go on to face the winner of O'Malley vs. Vera at some point later in 2024.
0:37
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.