Merab Dvalishvili has plenty of wild stories, but accidentally sparring with Hollywood star Kevin James might just top the list. The UFC bantamweight champ, known for his relentless energy and unapologetic personality, shared how he found himself in the gym trading shots with James – without even realizing who he was.
Dvalishvili, laser-focused as always, was just there to train and didn’t think twice about his sparring partner. It wasn’t until afterward that someone clued him in.
Leave it to Merab to unknowingly square up with a celebrity and treat it like just another day at the office.
The bantamweight champion appeared on the ‘Verse Us with Eric Nicksick’ podcast. During the episode, Dvalishvili explained:
“So in Longo’s we were training night time. That moment 2018 I fought my second fight in the UFC and I got a bonus. I lost but I got a bonus. Chris Weidman made a group and texted saying ‘Hey guys train in the morning our pro groups’. So it was maybe eight of us and there is some little bit fat guy.”
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Now, those who watched James make self-deprecating jokes on Grown Ups and Paul Blart: Mall Cop might not know this but the actor is actually quite skilled. He was a heavyweight wrestler in high school. As a matter of fact, he is even part of one of the coolest MMA movies of all time- ‘Here Comes the Boom’, where he plays a teacher trying to save the music department and impress Salma Hayek by winning an MMA tournament. Spoiler alert, he succeeds.
However, this does not mean, Merab took it easy on him.
Merab didn’t hold back
Dvalishvili explained that during a training session, James stood out among the pros in the gym. His first thought was that James might have been a former fighter or wrestler based on his build and presence.
As the session moved into sparring, Dvalishvili was paired with him. Although James looked familiar, Dvalishvili couldn’t place him. Once they started sparring, it became clear that James wasn’t just there for light training – he was throwing heavy punches and taking the session seriously.
Dvalishvili decided to push the intensity, aiming to tire James out and test his endurance. Merab remembers going hard, fully focused on the session, treating it like any other sparring matchup. However, it was after a few minutes of Merab going at it intensely that he was pulled aside and reprimanded by Chris Weidman for not taking it easy on a Hollywood celebrity.
