Merab Dvalishvili admits to ‘cheating a little bit’ as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg ironically became his ‘fourth cornerman’ at UFC 298.
The Georgian sensation took a mid-fight break from defeating Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 to joke with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who was ringside for the weekend’s PPV event in Anaheim.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Merab jokingly admitted to “cheating a little bit” as Zuckerberg became his unofficial fourth cornerman, giving him helpful tips on how long was left in the round.
Merab Dvalishvili talks laughing with Mark Zuckerberg mid-fight
The crowd and commentary booth went wild when Dvalishvili seemingly took a mid-fight break during his contest against Henry Cejudo to pull faces and joke with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
On the latest episode of The MMA Hour, the 33-year-old gave a little more backstory to the viral clip, explaining that he had recently been exchanging messages of support with the tech giant on Instagram:
“I had too much fun there. Actually, me and Mark have been friends on Instagram for the past couple of months, we’ve been texting each other positive energy.”
“When I was fighting, he was my fourth corner, he was giving me some tips, the one time he called out ‘30 seconds left’ and I’m like ‘thank you, thank you.’”
Merab teased that he “was cheating a little bit because I have fourth corner,” adding that when he notably lifted Cejudo into the air before his Instagram-worthy slam takedown, his first thought was ‘Where is Mark?’
The UFC rules stipulate that only three people are allowed in the corner of a fighter during a contest – Zuckerberg was seated ringside for Merab’s fight, before walking out with Alexander Volkanovski for the main event.
The surging Georgian earned himself a unanimous decision victory over Henry Cejudo at UFC 298, utilizing both his relentless pace and grappling to out-wrestle the former Olympic gold medallist.
It’s undoubtedly the biggest win of the 17-4 contenders’ career, who has now defeated three former bantamweight champions in his last three fights: Jose Aldo in 2022, Petr Yan in 2023, and Henry Cejudo in 2024.
At the post-fight press conference, Dana White confirmed that Dvalishvili will be matched up against the winner of Sean O’Malley vs Marlon Vera, which is the main event of UFC 299 in March.
Considering the current form of ‘The Machine’, many fans will expect Merab to open as the favorite almost as soon as the winner of O’Malley vs Vera is announced.