Champions shying away from taking on an unfavorable matchup creates a pretty gloomy situation for contenders. To combat this problem, Team Khabib has seen resorting to a series of bitter posts on X to draw out the title holder. This has been the case with the bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili and challenger Umar Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov has put together 18 fight unbeaten streak with 6 in the UFC. The Georgian champion believes the Dagestani challenger needs to do more in the division. Giving his an ongoing feud a hilarious new shape, Merab Dvalishivli took on the garb of a professor to act out a funny skit. He broke down the entire division and took shots at Umar Nurmagomedov for hiding behind his cousin’s legacy.
I mean, this guy wants title shots served to his bed like a breakfast…. Umar, get to work. You are not my level. Earn your title shot like the rest of us, whose last names don’t get gifts.
Merab Dvalishvili via X
Comparatively, the Georgian fighter’s road towards the world title was a tumultuous one. Despite having a bad start in the UFC, Dvalishvili put together an impressive 10-fight win streak before receiving the title shot. Meanwhile, ‘Young eagle’ has enjoyed a smooth six fight-win streak towards the number 1 contender spot. A win over Cory Sandhagen remains his best one that catapulted him to #1.
Back into the classroom to drop hard truths—lessons from my victories and who’s worthy of facing me next. If you don’t know, now you know. Got questions? I’ve got answers. 🦾 pic.twitter.com/Cr71VfEhHI
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) November 27, 2024
The Georgian fighter extended call outs to all the top contenders, leaving out the ‘Young Eagle’. Reacting to the ongoing bitter feud on X, former champion Sean O’Malley offered his reaction. O’Malley believes Nurmagomedov poses a hard challenge that has terrified Dvalishvili. Moreover, the champion listed down his reasons for not choosing this match-up, something Dana White completely disagrees with.
Dana White confirms Team Khabib’s fighter next in line for Merab Dvalishvili
Speaking with the media, UFC CEO Dana White shed light on the state of the bantamweight division. White feels the Nurmagomedov has done enough in the division despite just one ranked win. The UFC boss seemed quite certain about not rematching O’Malley against Dvalishvili. Instead, he would like to keep the ball rolling with new contenders.
Dana White confirms Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Merab Dvalishvili next (Image via Open Source)Speaking in the post presser, White was quizzed about the strange situation in the bantamweight division. The UFC CEO backed the undefeated Dagestani fighter’s status as next in line, overlooking the potential for revisiting the UFC Noche main-event. From the looks of it, ‘Young Eagle’ is poised to get the next title shot.
Dvalishvili’s take on division seems to give priority to fighters with ranked win over win-streak. Interestingly, Nurmagomedov has only faced one ranked opponent, while his peers have been fighting nothing but top 10 contenders. If UFC decides to give ‘Young Eagle’ the next crack, it could pay way for an interesting grappling matchup.
