Merab Dvalishvili has a lot of respect for Umar Nurmagomedov and sees him as a threat to his title, but he has doubts about the fighter competing for the title.
UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has had his sight set on a rematch battle against Sean O’Malley or Petr Yan. Still, UFC has other plans in mind as they confirmed that the champ will be facing undefeated fighter Umar Nurmagomedov instead. Since the announcement, Dvalishvili has been unable to make it to the cage due to some injuries, which many believe is a ploy to dodge the fight, but Dvalishvili refutes these rumours and claims he is not backing down from the fight, only disappointed he will have to face a fighter who he believes hasn’t earned a title shot.
“Umar is a good fighter. It’s a big challenge. But he don’t earn it like the rest of us,” Dvailishvili told the UFC in a new interview. “We all know, we all work hard to get here, and I don’t get anything easy, but Umar somehow gets easy.
“He just complains all the time that nobody wants to fight him, but there are so many good fighters. There is [Mario] Bautista, there are other fighters that are killers, [Montel] Jackson — he only fought [Cory] Sandhagen [who has] no wrestling. I guess he’s using this excuse; he beat the No. 2 guy, and now we see.”
Dvalishvili believes Nurmagomedov is getting these opportunities mainly because of his last name–his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov was the former UFC lightweight champion. Although Umar Nurmagomedov has an 18-0 record with six wins in UFC, Dvalishvili says the fighter hasn’t faced enough top-ranked opponents to be offered this title shot.
“It’s a big challenge, but the only thing I hate, he don’t earn it like how a real UFC fighter should earn it,” Dvalishvili said. “He’s just cocky. He should be humble, at least, but he disrespects me. That’s [not] what real men should do.”
“It’s going to be a good fight, a tough fight,” Dvalishvili said. “Of course, I’m going to look for the finish but to win against a top opponent and then change his zero to one loss, that will be good.
“I’m not fighting somebody that’s an easy opponent. It’s Umar Nurmagomedov. A win against him [in any way], I will take it. It doesn’t matter, but not a disqualification or something. As long as I win, it will be good, and I will be happy.”
Despite his reservations about facing Nurmagomedov, Dvalishvili is ready to go through with the fight as he has his sights on a big target in 2025. “ Machine says he intends on possessing UFC gold as he has 4 title defences in the new year. The champ will co-headline the first PPV in 2025 as he defends his title against undefeated fighter Umar Nurmagomedov.
In a recent interview on UFC Espanol YouTube channel, Dvalishvili spoke about his plans for the new year and his strategy to keep the belt as he prepares for his title defenses.
“I want to win this fight, and I want to be busy in 2025,” Dvalishvili said. “I’m fighting early this year, Jan. 18, and I just want to be busy. I know (Sean) O’Malley wants to come back in April. I think Petr (Yan) will be ready in March. So maybe fight Petr in March, rematch (O’Malley) in April, and whoever will be the next contender (after that), I will take. I will clean the division again.”
