Joe Rogan has always had a lot of admiration for ‘cardio machines’ in the UFC. He’s especially always been a bit obsessed with the Diaz brothers, specifically Nick Diaz, and has time and again told the story of how he swam from Alcatraz and back.
But as the sun sets on the Diaz brothers’ careers, Rogan seems to have found a new poster boy — someone who’s called ‘The Machine’ to begin with — bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.
The Georgian has emerged as the new fan favorite grappler. Fan favorite and grappler don’t always go together in the UFC, but with his spirited personality and an ability to bury his opponents with an avalanche of takedowns, while never seemingly losing any speed or momentum, he seems to have worked wonders for the Georgian.
Even in his last fight, he literally won the fight by putting constant pressure on a new and improved Sean O’Malley and having his way with him. O’Malley came prepared, but he simply couldn’t withstand the relentlessness of Merab and eventually tapped to a D’Arce. Rogan, who called the fight on the night, is now singing his praises to anyone who will hear.
In an episode of his podcast with Oliver Anthony, the UFC commentator said, “His (Merab’s) cardio is something that everyone who has been involved with the sport for as long as I have is blown away by it, the guy’s a freak.”
He then went on to talk about how Daniel Cormier went to meet ‘The Machine’ following his first win against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 last year, and true to his name, just like a machine, he didn’t even take a day off.
“Daniel Cormier went to visit him after he won the title……the next day, Daniel Cormier goes to visit him, he’s out running,” the JRE host added, still impressed.
Joe Rogan applauds Merab Dvalishvili’s superhuman cardio — “He melts the greatest of the greats”
“That guy is insane. Everyone who’s been involved in the sport for as long as I have is blown away by it. The guy is a freak. When he gets in the ring, no one can match his… pic.twitter.com/xuTr0ug7gC
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) June 17, 2025
Rogan is also of the opinion that it is this exact pace that saw even Umar Nurmagomedov gas out.
Rogan praises Merab’s performance against Umar
Umar was supposed to be the one to dethrone Merab. As the future of the Nurmagomedov family, Umar walked into UFC 311 with a 18-0 record.
Even though Merab had won the title just months before and wanted more time to prepare, even claiming that Umar only had one fight against a top-ranked fighter, the Dagestani camp pushed for it, and the UFC buckled.
Before the fight, it was almost as if the Georgian was warning the fans that the fight wouldn’t be as close as they imagined. He made it clear that he was levels above Nurmagomedov.
However, no one could have imagined how one-sided the fight was. Despite having trained under the super team of Khabib and Javier Mendez, Umar had no answer to the relentless pressure.
And that’s exactly what Rogan emphasized, “In any other time he’d (Umar) be a world champion, and Merab’s just overwhelmed him.” He continued, “You see him just getting overwhelmed by the pace, and Merab doesn’t even get tired, he’s a freak.”
During this fight, Rogan, while on the broadcast team, commented on Merab’s stamina. He spoke about the contrast between the two fighters at the start of round 5.
Umar looked knackered, breathing heavily, and Merab looked like he was just getting ready for round 1 of the fight, smiling, laughing, and gesturing to the crowd.
