Merab Dvalishvili sits atop the bantamweight division after dethroning Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 PPV. Petr Yan is right off a five-round main event victory over Deiveison Figueiredo at UFC Macau. Umar Nurmagomedov is the No. 1 seed after the headliner of UFC on ABC 7 last August. Now, sparring mate Aljamain Sterling defends Dvalishvili’s choice between Yan and ‘Young Eagle.’
‘Guest professor’ and new 135-pound champ Dvalishvili broke out the board to defend his choice of Petr Yan for next title-shot. After the year’s Noche UFC event headliner, the Georgian vs. Umar Nurmagomedov in a wrestler vs. wrestler ground state has excited everyone. However, Dvalishvili says no; Aljamain Sterling explains why.
Some people actually think he is afraid, … which is actually hilarious…I think Merab – From me…from what I understand, when we talk, Merab is just standing on business like: ‘Bro, you haven’t doen anything, I had to come here and bust my a**…I’m from the same area as you…, and you’re going to get it off one win?’ That’s crazy
Aljamain Sterling said (🎥 : YT/@FunkMasterUFC)
At 18-4 MMA, and 11-2 UFC, Aljo’s Georgian friend is on a 11-fight winning streak. However, there have been talks of him being afraid of the phenom from Dagestan. On his “TimboSugaShow”, even Sean O’Malley talked about Dvalishvili being scared of Umar Nurmagomedov. However, Aljamain Sterling disagrees.
🤔Aljamain Sterling explains why Merab Dvalishvili is not interested in fighting Umar Nurmagomedov:
“Some people think [Merab] is afraid of fighting [Umar]. That’s hilarious.
From what I understand, Merab is just standing on principle: ‘Bro, I’m from the same area as you… I… pic.twitter.com/ikPI1tVS6g
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) November 28, 2024
It’s banking on the same lines of being afraid to fight the top dogs for gold. When in actuality, he just let Aljo relinquish his stake and then banked in on his once-10-fight streak. “Funk Master” also provides that it’s because of this streak that Dvalishvili wants more out of his challenger, same as him.
Nurmagomedov has only one ranked billing at UFC (UFC on ABC 7) Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov. Meanwhile, Russian counterpart Petr Yan has fought two dangerous contenders in the division in Song Yadong and Deiveison Figueiredo. Hence, former champion Yan is in the running.
Was Petr Yan’s win at Macau enough to take title shot from Umar Nurmagomedov? Aljamain Sterling weighs in
Petr Yan showed that he was still crisp and sharp in his return bill at the main event of UFC Macau (aka UFC Fight Night 248). On the bench due to a leg injury for eight months, Yan (18-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) returned with a clinical lopsided win like none other. Now, there are serious calls for him to fight for gold once more.
Aljamain Sterling says Umar Nurmagomedov shouldn’t ride cousin’s coattails in UFC (Source: X)One of those calls is from Merab Dvalishvili, who was convinced by his performance, much like the 3-0 streak from Figgy. He pushed Umar Nurmagomedov to the wayside and pushed for a rematch again. Who’s to blame? Aljo said the name “Nurmagomedov” cannot speak loudly as the resume is what matters.
I’m not saying he’s not good, …I love Umar. I think Umar is a great guy, but facts are the facts. I don’t care what your cousin has done. That does not have any bearing on what you have done for the sport. You’ve got to cut your teeth in this game, not riding the coattails of your family’s merit.
Aljamain Sterling via the ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’
Does Yan win the spot because the champ is sure of his striker-versus-wrestler mettle now, evermore? A combat sambo champion, ‘The Machine’ has only gotten better. The pair met once before in March 2023. Merab Dvalishvili won a lopsided unanimous decision that saw him attempt a UFC single-fight record of 49 takedown attempts. Despite failing most of the attempts, he dominated Yan from start to finish.
If not, does the top contender not get it for allegedly pawning off of cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov? Ultimately, the champ has pitched he’ll fight whoever UFC says to fight. But for now, the Georgian fighter is on a crusade for a pay-per-view title match at UFC 313 on March 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
