Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov are scheduled to lock horns this Saturday inside the Intuit Dome, California. Ahead of the clash, both fighters have developed a heated rivalry. Recently, the Dagestani title challenger took this to a new level by questioning the champion’s patriotism towards his own country.
Umar Nurmagomedov has frequently talked about Dvalishvili being a fake champion and initially ducking the challenger. In a recent interview, the Team Khabib member made fun of Dvalishvili’s responsibility towards his country. According to Nurmagomedov, the champion doesn’t represent his culture authentically.
You think everybody have to respect to Merab and they will? A lot of guys don’t care about Merab and they don’t think he is a man. Even me, I think I’m the more Georgian man more than him. If we look at how he follows Georgian tradition, okay, he represents his country with tattoo and with black papakha and what else? What about life outside the doors?
Umar Nurmagomedov via Full Send Podcast
Nurmagomedov is undefeated throughout his career. In his last fight, he dominated the #2 fighter, Cory Sandhagen, with ease. Going into UFC 311, the Dagestani fighter wants to continue his run and is confident about taking the win. Being an all-rounder inside the octagon, the challenger doesn’t think Dvalishvili can defeat him using his wrestling.
🚨| Umar Nurmagomedov has claimed he is “MORE GEORGIAN” than Merab Dvalishvili ahead of their fight at #UFC311 this weekend. 😳
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) January 16, 2025
Merab Dvalishvili, on the other hand, is on a 11-fight win streak. He has gone through some of the biggest talents in bantamweight history like Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, Sean O’Malley, etc. The Georgian champion plans to follow the same strategy and outlast Nurmagomedov, and ultimately take the win.
Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov’s fight is about nationalism
Merab Dvalishvili was born in Georgia, but traveled to the U.S. when he was 21 years old in order to become a professional fighter. Apart from fighting in the UFC, Dvalishvili worked in construction to support his finances. Being an immigrant, the Georgian fighter successfully achieved the ultimate dream.
Umar Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili face to face (via MMA Fighting)However, Umar Nurmagomedov thinks that Dvalishvili moved to the U.S. and wasn’t loyal to his country. Both the fighters got into a heated squabble during the press conference before the fight night. The champion was visibly annoyed and talked about taking revenge inside the octagon.
That’s another bulls**** from him. Of course he’s not Georgian, he cannot even represent Dagestan. He represents Russia. Umar, good luck Saturday night. We are gonna find out.
Merab Dvalishvili via UFC 311 pre-fight presser
Umar Nurmagomedov regualary trains and lives in his home country Dagestan. However, he also comes to the USA to train at the American Kickboxing Academy. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili gave justification for inspiring a new generation of Georgia kids by becoming the champion. It would be interesting to see how this bad blood settles this Saturday at UFC 311.
Stay Updated!
Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.
