Merab Dvalishvili recently dethroned Sean O’Malley to become the new UFC bantamweight champion. That victory brings up a question about Dvalishvili’s next step in the promotion. Undefeated Dagestani fighter Umar Nurmagomedov is one of the standout potential opponents for the champ. However, Dvalishvili thinks otherwise.
Dvalishvili has often dismissed the Dagestani’s wish to challenge for the title next. Following his victory at UFC 306, his stand against the ‘Young Eagle’ hasn’t changed. As such, Dvalishvili continues to ignore Nurmagomedov’s desperate wish to fight for the title. However, this time, he even gave an intriguing reason behind dismissing the Dagestani’s ‘deserving contender’ claims.
From top 15, he (Umar Nurmagomedov) won only 1 fight, and that was Cory Sandhagen. We all see what Aljamain Sterling did against Cory Sandhagen, make him sleep in the first round..
Merab Dvalishvili via UFC 306 post-fight presser
Merab Dvalishvili drew a comparison between the skillsets of Aljamain Sterling and Umar Nurmagomedov by keeping Cory Sandhagen as a constant. Sterling defeated Sandhagen back in 2020 at UFC 250 when Aljo was a rising contender in the division.
Recently, even the Young Eagle fought Sandhagen. However, he couldn’t finish the fight like the way Sterling did. Keeping all these stats in mind, Dvalishvili feels Nurmagomedov has to beat formidable opponents to challenge for the title.
Meanwhile, Team Khabib doesn’t agree with Dvalishvili’s assessment. As such, AKA coach Javier Mendez took offense to that and showed disappointment towards the champ. Moreover, even the reigning UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, wants to see a fight between Dvalishvili and the Young Eagle. Although the Georgian champion is adamant, others think differently.
Ex-UFC champion mention the benefits of Merab Dvalishvili fighting Umar Nurmagomedov
Both Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov have an exceptional record at the UFC. The Young Eagle is yet to be defeated and is currently riding a six-fight win streak in the UFC. As for Dvalishvili, although he had a slow start to his UFC career, he is now on an 11-fight win streak. With that being said, former UFC champion Kamaru Usman delves into a deep discussion with Henry Cejudo.
Kamaru Usman thinks Merab Dvalishvili should fight Umar Nurmagomedov (Image via Imago)In doing so, they discussed the pros and cons of a fight between Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov. Similar to several fighters, Cejudo feels this would be a great matchup. Meanwhile, Kamaru Usman, being a UFC veteran, reveals the reason behind giving this matchup a go.
While explaining the reasons, he even gave the example of his beef against Colby Covington. Not only that, he even justifies the moment when Dvalishvili gave a confusing reply at the post-fight octagon interview.
Merab (Dvalishvili) is not afraid but I know he‘s worried about a guys like Umar (Nurmagomedov) and sometimes those are the guys that really puts you on that next level… I needed that dance partner, Colby Covington gave me that. At this point, I think if I had any advice for Merab is to embrace that…
Kamaru Usman via Pound 4 Pound podcast
Usman also mentioned his wish to see Dvalishvili and the Young Eagle fight on the UFC Abu Dhabi card. With that being said, now it remains how things between these two fighters escalate. As for now, the champ might take his time off for some rest. Meanwhile, that leaves a question about Umar Nurmagomedov’s next fight. It will be interesting to see for how long the Dagestani waits for his title shot.
