Merab Dvalishvili likes what he’s seen out of Gina Carano on the training mats.
On May 16, Carano (7-1) and Ronda Rousey (12-2) return from long layoffs to headline MVP’s inaugural MMA event on Netflix at Intuit Dome, Inglewood, Calif.
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Carano has been training with former UFC bantamweight champion Dvalishvili at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, and the pair have gotten several sessions in. He is confident the former Strikeforce title challenger has what it takes to handle Rousey’s elite ground game.
“It was great honor for me to train with her and I was surprised – good surprised at how good she is,” Dvalishvili said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “Ronda Rousey has a judo background. I also have a judo background, and I was super judo. And I think Gina Carano will win this fight, how good she is.
“When she was fighting, I was very young and I was not even in MMA. I (had) never seen her fight before. But when I was training with her, I was so impressed, and I went and watched her everything, I checked all her fights and she’s the real deal, and I think she can beat Ronda Rousey. It’s going to make UFC fighters look bad, and she’s going to make judo also look bad.”
Carano hasn’t competed since 2009, but Dvalishvili has been impressed with how hard she’s been training.
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“I see the change, like, even her body change and her training change and everything,” Dvalishvili said. “She’s really training high level, and I think she’s going to deliver.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Merab Dvalishvili: Carano vs. Rousey will ‘make UFC fighters look bad’
