Pherselidze represented Georgia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he competed in the men's 120 kg class. He defeated Chile's Andrés Ayub in the preliminary round of sixteen, before losing out the quarterfinal match to Cuban wrestler and defending Olympic champion Mijaín López, who was able to score four points in two straight periods, leaving Pherselidze without a single point. Because his opponent advanced further into the final match, Pherselidze offered another shot for the bronze medal by defeating Egypt's Abdelrahman El-Trabely in the repechage rounds. He progressed to the bronze medal match, but narrowly lost the medal to Turkey's Rıza Kayaalp, with a technical score of 0–2, and a classification point score of 0–3.