Tag: Merab Dvalishvili

Umar Nurmagomedov wouldn’t be surprised if Merab Dvalishvili pulled out of their clash at UFC 311.

After securing a dominant victory over Sean O’Malley in September to claim the bantamweight title, Dvalishvili will put his gold up for grabs against Nurmagomedov, the No. 2 ranked contender, on January 18 in Los Angeles.

Almost immediately after his title-winning performance at UFC 306, ‘The Machine’ tried to discredit Nurmagomedov’s status as the next man in line, pointing at his lack of wins over top 15 opponents.

Unfortunately for Dvalishvili, he didn’t make a strong enough case and the promotion moved forward with plans to give the undefeated Dagestani his first shot at UFC gold in 2025.

During an interview with the UFC, Nurmagomedov spoke about the possibility of his opponent pulling out of the bout.

“I will not be surprised and nobody will be surprised,” Nurmagomedov said. “Even right now, I saw like commentary on Twitter, they said he will pull out, but he never pulled out before. I hope he will not and the fight is going to happen” (h/t MMA Junkie).

Umar Nurmagomedov thinks ‘The Machine’ only wants opponents he knows he can beat

Nurmagomedov goes into the co-main event clash with a perfect 18-0 record, six of those wins coming under the UFC banner. The biggest of those victories came in August when Nurmagomedov scored a decisive unanimous decision victory over Cory Sandhagen, skyrocketing him from the back of the bantamweight rankings to the second-ranked spot.

Whether or not Nurmagomedov deserves the shot he’s been given varies depending on who you’re talking to, but regardless, the Dagestani believes there is no path to victory for his Georgian opposition.

“I think he just wants to fight with a real guy he can beat,” Nurmagomedov said. “It doesn’t mean I’m really going to 100 percent go inside the cage and smash him, no. He knows other guys, he will beat. With me, it’s going to be hard. That’s why he’s trying to be a champion for a long time, and he wants to fight with O’Malley, with Petr Yan, or someone else because these guys, easy money. Me, no. For me, he has to go deep waters. With me it’s going to be a long night. I will not give him takedowns, he will not control me.

“I have good skills, striking skills, and I can make for him a lot of problems. That’s why, but when we go inside the cage, I will not think he’s scared of me. I will know that this is a man who will try to beat me, I will try to smash him, and it’s going to be a battle. What I understand is he doesn’t want to take a risky fight. He can beat me, it can happen. It’s not going to break me. I will be same Umar. Fight is fight. Everybody can lose. …If we’re talking about scared, I just think he doesn’t want to take risk, hard fight.”

Merab Dvalishvili really doesn’t want to fight Umar Nurmagomedov.

From the moment the UFC bantamweight title was wrapped around his waist in September, Dvalishvili has been very vocal about his disdain for the undefeated Dagestani standout and his lack of wins against ranked opponents.

Regardless, Nurmagomedov will have an opportunity to claim his first world title when he challenges ‘The Machine’ at UFC 311 on January 18.

Nurmagomedov, 18-0, earned his spot with a dominant decision win over Cory Sandhagen in August that skyrocketed him from the bottom of the top 15 to the No. 2 spot.

While it was undoubtedly the biggest win of Nurmagomedov’s career thus far, it wasn’t enough to convince Dvalishvili that he was worthy of a shot at the 135-pound crown.

“Umar is a good fighter. It’s a big challenge, but he don’t earn it like the rest of us,” Dvalishvili told ESPN. “We all know we work hard to get here, I don’t get anything easy, but somehow gets easy. He just complains all the time that nobody wants to fight him, but there are so many good fighters. There’s (Mario) Bautista, there are other fighters that are killers.

“But yeah, he fought only (Cory) Sandhagen (with) no wrestling, and he’s using that excuse that he beat the No. 2 guy, and now he’s here. It’s a big challenge, but the only thing I hate is that he don’t earn it how UFC fighters should earn it, and he’s just cocky. He should be humble at least, and he just disrespects me and lying, and that’s not what real men should do. That’s it.”

Merab Dvalishvili knows he’s in for a tough test against Umar Nurmagomedov

Dvalishvili may not approve of the path Nurmagomedov has taken, but he can’t deny that the Dagestani is a highly skilled opponent who presents a tough challenge.

“The fight will be really tough and this is a big, big challenge for me because it’s a new face and yeah, he’s a good fighter,” Dvalishvili said. “He’s good at kicking, striking, wrestling, and it’s a new challenge.”

It will be Dvalishvili’s first time defending the bantamweight title since taking it off ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in September.

Merab Dvalishvili really doesn’t want to fight Umar Nurmagomedov.

From the moment the UFC bantamweight title was wrapped around his waist in September, Dvalishvili has been very vocal about his disdain for the undefeated Dagestani standout and his lack of wins against ranked opponents.

Regardless, Nurmagomedov will have an opportunity to claim his first world title when he challenges ‘The Machine’ at UFC 311 on January 18.

Nurmagomedov, 18-0, earned his spot with a dominant decision win over Cory Sandhagen in August that skyrocketed him from the bottom of the top 15 to the No. 2 spot.

While it was undoubtedly the biggest win of Nurmagomedov’s career thus far, it wasn’t enough to convince Dvalishvili that he was worthy of a shot at the 135-pound crown.

“Umar is a good fighter. It’s a big challenge, but he don’t earn it like the rest of us,” Dvalishvili told ESPN. “We all know we work hard to get here, I don’t get anything easy, but somehow gets easy. He just complains all the time that nobody wants to fight him, but there are so many good fighters. There’s (Mario) Bautista, there are other fighters that are killers.

“But yeah, he fought only (Cory) Sandhagen (with) no wrestling, and he’s using that excuse that he beat the No. 2 guy, and now he’s here. It’s a big challenge, but the only thing I hate is that he don’t earn it how UFC fighters should earn it, and he’s just cocky. He should be humble at least, and he just disrespects me and lying, and that’s not what real men should do. That’s it.”

Merab Dvalishvili knows he’s in for a tough test against Umar Nurmagomedov

Dvalishvili may not approve of the path Nurmagomedov has taken, but he can’t deny that the Dagestani is a highly skilled opponent who presents a tough challenge.

“The fight will be really tough and this is a big, big challenge for me because it’s a new face and yeah, he’s a good fighter,” Dvalishvili said. “He’s good at kicking, striking, wrestling, and it’s a new challenge.”

It will be Dvalishvili’s first time defending the bantamweight title since taking it off ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in September.