Merab Dvalishvili is getting ready to defend his UFC bantamweight title against top challenger Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. Going into the fight, the rivalry between the fighters has helped in boosting the hype. However, as it turns out the bantamweight champion wasn’t really happy with the UFC for this matchmaking.
Umar Nurmagomedov has been asking for his title shot since Merab Dvalishvili became the champion. The Georgian fighter was never satisfied with Nurmagomedov’s title contention and refused to take the fight. Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently revealed that despite his annoyance, UFC forced Dvalishvili to take the fight.Â
He was pushed into the fight. He did not want this fight. He didn’t think Umar deserve this fight….He was gonna fight Umar regardless, there was nobody else.Â
Ali Abdelaziz via MMA Junkie
‘Young Eagle’ got the title opportunity by beating #2 ranked fighter Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi last year. On the other hand, Dvalishvili had to struggle and defeat many former champions to finally get the shot. This could be the reason why the Georgian doesn’t respect Nurmagomedov’s contention.
Apart from all this, Dvalishvili is well known for his theatrics and trash-talking his opponents. His rivalry with Sean O’Malley was definitely one of the most entertaining ones last year. It won’t be surprising to see something similar as the fight against Umar Nurmagomedov comes close.
Merab Dvalishvili promises to humble Umar NurmagomedovÂ
Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov have already shared various verbal insults on the internet. The champ has made some personal remarks and has warned to take the undefeated streak from the Dagestani. In December when they first came face to face, the intensity was high which is expected to give a competitive fight at UFC 311.Â
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov faceoff (via MMA Fighting)According to the bantamweight champion, Nurmagomedov has disrespected him, but the challenger isn’t accepting it. Dvalishvili doesn’t like getting disrespected and it remains evident from his altercations with random fans. At UFC 311, the ‘Machine’ has plans to teach Nurmagomedov a lesson.Â
I will just do my best and make him humble…He’s just cocky. He is never been defeated before and he’s acting like nobody wanna fight with him and he’s something untouchable. All the Umar fans they been disrespecting me all this time.
Merab Dvalishvili via UFCÂ
Apart from the Dvalishvili vs. Nurmagomedov bout, the main event features Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan for the lightweight championship. For Team Khabib, it is going to be a busy training camp and a stressful one. It will be interesting to see whether they successfully bring two UFC belts to their camp.Â
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