Are you wondering who the best Georgian UFC fighters of all time are?
In this article, we’ll rank the 5 best Georgian UFC fighters of all time by going through their backgrounds, credentials, records, fighting skills, and who they’ve won and lost against in the octagon.
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Best Georgian UFC Fighters
Ranked starting with the most elite, here are the 5 best Georgian UFC fighters of all time.
1. Merab Dvalishvili – ‘The Machine’ (17-4)
Height: 5’6” | Reach: 68” | Stance: Orthodox | Weight Class: Bantamweight | DOB: Jan 10, 1991 | Fighting Style: Wrestling
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Merab Dvalishvili is a former two-time Ring of Combat bantamweight champion and current UFC bantamweight contender.
His martial arts journey began at the age of 14 in wrestling, judo, and sambo. He became the Georgian Sambo and amateur MMA Champion and achieved a bronze medal at the European Youth Sambo Championships.
At 19 he started MMA training and by 21 years old he had begun professional MMA fighting for ROC. He has since earned a black belt in both judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
He was offered a UFC contract in 2017 and has shown the following skills in the octagon:
- Elite wrestling where he relentlessly shoots for takedowns until he gets the takedown or simply tires his opponent by making them defend
- Insane pressure and cardiovascular endurance – he doesn’t stop moving forward and can outwork any fighter with strikes and takedowns
- Nimble footwork and bouncing movement for in-and-out strikes and evasion, as well as circling
- Strong clinch against the fence and use of nonstop knees
- Solid striking defense – Merab uses a high guard
- Jabs and straights into double and single legs so quickly – if he fails the takedown he unbalances his opponent and throws boxing combinations up top
- Granite chin and durability – he’s never been knocked out and has only been submitted once via a last-second mounted guillotine by Ricky Simon
- Great ground and pound with short hammer fists, hooks, and body shots
- Decent boxing and tonnes of feints
Along with all of his skill and fighting spirit, he has an undeniable coaching team in Matt Serra and Ray Longo who give him excellent strategy, training, and cornering.
He’s also good friends and a long-time sparring/training partner with former bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, where the pair have elevated each other’s game.
His best UFC wins have come against high-level opponents: John Dodson, Brad Katona, Marlon Moraes, Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo.
Overall, Merab Dvalishvili is the best Georgian UFC fighter and is sure to be a future UFC champion.
2. Ilia Topuria – ‘El Matador’ (15-0)
Height: 5’7” | Reach: 69” | Stance: Orthodox | Weight Class: Featherweight | DOB: Jan 21, 1997 | Fighting Style: Boxing
Topuria was born in Germany to Georgian parents but moved to Spain when he was 15 years old. Shortly after moving, he started MMA at his local club, and within 3 years he turned professional.
He won the featherweight title in Mix Fight Events and won the title fight in Cage Warriors but didn’t win the belt because he missed weight.
He made his UFC debut at just 23 years old and has won his first 6 first UFC fights via 4 finishes and 2 decisions. He’s now the UFC featherweight champion after he knocked out Volkanovski. Topuria has a Greco-Roman wrestling background and is a Bjj black belt.
He has trained at MMA Masters in Miami but his home is Climente Club in Alicante, Spain.
Since joining the UFC in 2020, Topuria’s best fighting skills have been:
- Powerful body shots to get his opponents dropping their hands before he goes up top
- Fast and explosive striking with excellent technique
- Fluid footwork and movement
- 92% takedown defense in 5 UFC fights
- Killer instincts – 12 finishes in 13 fights
- Very well-rounded to the point of having no weaknesses
So far in the UFC, Topuria has beaten Jai Herbert, Damon Jackson, Ryan Hall, Bryce Mitchell, and Josh Emmett to earn his position as the #9 ranked UFC featherweight and one of the best Georgian UFC fighters.
3. Giga Chikadze – ‘Ninja’ (15-3)
Height: 6’0” | Reach: 74” | Stance: Orthodox | Weight Class: Featherweight | DOB: Aug 25, 1988 | Fighting Style: Kickboxing
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Giga Chikadze is a former world champion kickboxer and a World and two-time European karate champion. He competed for Glory kickboxing before turning to professional MMA in 2015.
Inspired by Bruce Lee and Jet Li, Chikadze began to train in Goju-Ryu karate at the age of 4, where he’s now a third-dan black belt.
His dad pushed him to be a fighter, famously saying at the hospital when Chikadze was born, “Here was born Giga Chikadze, World Champion in Fighting.”
His professional kickboxing record stands at 38-6 with 22 knockouts and a 6-3 Glory Kickboxing record.
After losing on season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series (2018) but showing promise, Giga Chikadze was given a four-fight UFC contract in 2019 and has shown the following skills:
- Elite kickboxing with lightning-fast and powerful kicks with zero telegraphing
- His main weapon is the ‘Giga Kick’ – a left roundhouse to the liver from the southpaw stance
- Strong takedown defense because he’s very tall for the weight class and he trains it constantly as he knows all of his opponents want to take him down (69% in 9 UFC fights)
- Diverse kicking attacks and targets: spinning side kicks, calf kicks, front kicks, axe kicks, oblique kicks, and roundhouse kicks
- Both straight punches and jabs are extremely fast and he uses them often once he gets opponents expecting his kicks
- Unconventional rhythm as he’s always in and out, moving his feet, switching stances, mixing up his weapons and targets, and has exceptional speed
So far, his best UFC wins have come against Alex Caceres, Cub Swanson, and Edson Barboza, while his first loss came against Calvin Kattar (2022).
Giga famously trains two to three times a day out of Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, California, under the owner and elite striking coach, Rafael Cordeiro.
Overall, Giga’s one of the best Georgian UFC fighters and also one of the best UFC featherweights who’s likely to challenge for the title before long.
4. Guram Kutateladze – ‘Georgian Viking’ (12-4)
Height: 5’11” | Reach: 72” | Stance: Orthodox | Weight Class: Lightweight | DOB: Jan 08, 1992 | Fighting Style: Muay Thai
Guram Kutateladze’s martial arts journey began at 4 years old when he trained and competed in Irigumi-Go to become a 9-time champion (in Russia) and a 3-time CIS champion.
Gurman fought his first professional MMA fight in Moscow at 11 years old but went on to compete in around 75 K-1 / Muay Thai fights.
He’s an extremely experienced martial artist with a black belt in Japanese jiu-jitsu and roughly 500 combined martial arts matches in wrestling, sambo, grappling, kickboxing, amateur boxing, jiu-jitsu, karate, and more.
With such experience, Guram Kutateladze joined the UFC in 2020 and has shown the following skills:
- Elite technical striking with great balance – he never leads over his lead leg too often
- Knees and elbows in the clinch, as well as trips
- Great front kicks and lead left roundhouse kicks – especially to the body
- High striking defense as he has non-stop head movement to keep his head at angles and he rolls punches well
- Creative striking with a great variety of weapons and placement, disguised with feints and movements
- Throws jumping knees, question mark kicks, spinning hook kicks, and spinning elbows with electric speed and great timing
- His favorite combination is a sharp 1-2 down the pipe with a right calf kick to finish
He has trained at Allstars Training Academy in Stockholm Sweden with the likes of Khamzat Chimaev and Alexander Gustafsson, but he spends most of his time at the House of Samurai, a gym he co-owns in Malmö, Sweden.
Despite being one of the best technical strikers in the UFC, Guram Kutateladze has had a tough start in the UFC, losing to Damir Ismagulov via split decision and being knocked out by Elves Brener in a fight he dominated.
However, he beat his toughest opponent on his UFC debut, Mateusz Gamrot, and there’s surely more to come from Kutateladze, who’s still only 31 years old.
5. Roman Dolidze – ‘The Caucasian’ (12-3)
Height: 6’2” | Reach: 76” | Stance: Southpaw | Weight Class: Middleweight | DOB: Jul 15, 1988 | Fighting Style: Boxing
Born in Batumi, Georgia, Roman Dolidze is a former World Warriors Fight Championship light heavyweight champion and current UFC middleweight fighter.
He has a background in sambo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, where he became the ADCC Asia & Oceania submission grappling champion, and Grappling FILA world champion.
He started grappling late at 20 years old, and it wasn’t until 28 years old that Roman Dolidze started to train in MMA.
After 6 straight wins, Roman Dolidze joined the UFC in 2020 and has shown the following skills:
- Powerful knees in the clinch and from body lock positions
- Strong upper body grappling – he’s especially dominant in the clinch against the fence
- Effective in both southpaw and orthodox stances which he mixes up depending on his opponent
- Stays fundamental and energy efficient with this striking
- Powerful strikes as he fully commits and plants his feet to generate maximum power
- Fast and powerful left roundhouse kick to the head and body from the southpaw stance
- Ferocious left and right hooking combinations – he knocked out Phil Hawes this way
- Creative offense from his back in closed guard with elbows and continuous submission attacks/transitions
Roman Dolidze is one of the most successful UFC fighters to not have a full-time coach. When in the US, he sometimes trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas but he mostly spends his time at the UFC PI before a fight.
He notably trains with and has been cornered by Giga Chikadze and Sergey Spivak. His best UFC wins have come against Phil Hawes, Kyle Daukaus, and Jack Hermansson, while he’s lost to Trevin Giles and Marvin Vetorri.
Despite starting late, Roman Dolidze has become a force to be reckoned with in the UFC middleweight division and is one of the best Georgian UFC fighters of all time.
