LAS VEGAS – Merab Dvalishvili proved to Cody Stamann he’s no easy fight.

The UFC bantamweight contender bested Stamann (19-4-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) in a unanimous decision on the opening bout of the main card at Saturdays’ UFC on ESPN 23 event in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili (13-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) outpointed Stamann with a 30-27 and two 29-28 scores on the three judges’ scorecards.

In a pre-fight interview during the UFC on ESPN 23 media day, Stamann told reporters his teammates encouraged him to take the fight with Dvalishvili because they thought it would be a good matchup for him after having trained with Dvalishvili at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.

“He said after the second fight got canceled he didn’t want to fight with me, but his teammates told him I’m not that strong, I haven’t beaten anybody good, and I should be easy fight for him and that he should fight me,” Dvalishvili told MMA Junkie at the UFC on ESPN 23 post-fight press conference. “I guess it was a mistake for him.”

Dvalishvili has been training in Las Vegas along with his Serra-Longo teammate and UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling due to New York’s COVID-19 restrictions on gyms.

He feels like he was misjudged from the his work in Las Vegas, having trained with teammates of Stamann.

“I’m training with Serra-Longo team always. We always train to make each other better and we don’t hurt each other this is training,” Dvalishvili explained. “Maybe I guess I was training light with those guys and maybe someone was thinking I was easy, but I guess I’m not easy. But I want to be respectful to Cody Stamann. He’s a great fighter and he is a good team and I respect his coaches and everybody.”

As far as what’s next, Dvalishvili, who’s now on a six-fight winning streak, wants a step up in competition. He has many names in mind, but he’d like to face a former UFC champion.

“There is four other former champions in our weight class,” Dvalishvili said. “T.J. Dillashaw, Jose Aldo, Cody Garbrandt and Dominick Cruz and Frankie Edgar. But I don’t want to fight Frankie Edgar. I have a lot of respect for him and he’s a legend. He deserves a title fight or something big. He’s a legend. Other guys, why do they have to wait so long? They have to fight me and move forward.”