Report - Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cody Stamann Reworked For UFC Fight Night 190 On May 1st.

Mandatory Credit: MMA Junkie

A high-stakes bantamweight matchup between surging grappling talent, Merab Dvalishvili and Cody Stamann has been reworked for the third time, on this occasion for a UFC Fight Night 190 event on May 1st. -- with a location or venue for the event yet to be determined by the promotion. 

Initially scheduled to meet at UFC Vegas 16 in December, the pairing was shelved after Stamman was forced to withdraw due to undisclosed reasons. Rescheduled for UFC Vegas 18 in February of this year, Dvalishvili was this time forced to remove himself from proceedings as he dealt with health effects amid a positive COVID-19 test result.

Out of action since UFC 252 last August, the Georgian contender took home a unanimous decision win over former two-time flyweight title challenger, John Dodson. The victory earned Dvalishvili the #12 rank in the official bantamweight pile.

Grand Rapids native, Stamann has been out of action since July of 2020 where he suffered a unanimous judging loss to division mainstay, Jimmie Rivera. News of the rebooked clash was first penned by MMA Junkie reporters, Mike Bohn and Farah Hannoun.

Winning his last five on the trot, Tiblisi native, Dvalishvili holds a 12-4 professional résumé -- with seven of those outings coming under the UFC's banner.

Dropping a pair of defeats to both Frankie Saenz and a controversial submission loss to Ricky Simon, the Ray Longo and Matt Serra mainstay has managed to notch consecutive victories over Terrion Ware, Brad Katona, Casey Kenney, former Combate Americas champion, Gustavo Lopez, as well as the above mentioned, Dodson.

31-year-old Xtreme Couture trainee, Stamann has established a 5-1(1) promotional record since landing in the UFC back at UFC 213 in July of 2017. 

A twenty-three fight professional veteran, Stamann has scored notable Octagon triumphs over the likes of common-foe, Ware, former Cage Warriors titleholder, Tom Duquesnoy, Brian Kelleher, and Alejandro Perez. In his only other promotional loss, Stamann dropped an infamous Suloev stretch defeat to recently minted bantamweight champion, Dvalishvili's teammate, Aljamain Sterling. 

UFC Fight Night 190 takes place on May 1st. -- with a light heavyweight matchup between two-time title chaser, Dominick Reyes and former RIZIN FF champion, Jiri Prochazka slated to take main event honours.