Merab Dvalishvili told by Dana White that not fighting friend Aljamain Sterling for the belt is a “Really bad idea”

Friends and family are supposed to be with us until the end, unless you are a UFC fighter.  Dana White most recently went on to say that if Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t want to fight his best friend Aljamain Sterling for the UFC belt that it will a “really bad idea”. Merab who has won 9 UFC fights in a row including wins over John Dodson, Cody Stamann, Marlon Moraes, Jose Aldo, and Petr Yan.

With Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili both representing the Serra-Longo fight team have been training partners since 2012 and are regularly key training partners as both prepare for training camps.  With the most recent victory over Petr Yan, Merab shot into the #1 contender spot leapfrogging Sean O’Malley.

Aljamain Sterling is set to face returning 2 division champion Henry Cejudo during UFC 288 who has asked for Merab Dvalishvili to be a backup opponent in case something happens that would prevent Aljo from competing.  Strerling has gone on to say that he plans on defending his belt a few times before eventually moving up to the 145lbs division.  With Merab as the #1 contender, could we see a situation where Aljo defeats Henry Cejudo before fighting Sean O’Malley and then moving up to the featherweight division? Leave your comments below…should friends from the same gym be forced to compete against one another?