Dvalishvili, despite English not being his first language, has found a way to connect with fans thanks to his friendly demeanor and his humbleness — not to mention the silly social-media videos he frequently produces, a staple of the lead-up to his capture of O’Malley’s UFC gold last September that returned ahead of their rematch.

Two bantamweight championships are up for grabs tonight in Newark, New Jersey, when Merab Dvalishvili puts his belt on the line against Suga Sean O’Malley and Julianna Pena defends against Kayla Harrison in the co-main events.

“I was heartbroken,” Dvalishvili told Uncrowned ahead of his title defense against former champ Sean O’Malley at UFC 316 on Saturday. “I lost a fight. You know, you can lose maybe a tennis game, a soccer game. But this is a fight. When you take a loss in a fight, it’s hard. I was thinking, maybe I wasn’t good enough. Maybe I should quit.”

Victory at UFC 316 will see Merab Dvalishvili stretch his epic winning streak to 13 in a row. In doing so, he’ll join an exclusive club of the greatest fighters of all time, who also achieved the feat. Anderson Silva ‘s 16 consecutive UFC wins is the longest perfect streak in company history.