UFC bantamweight bigwig Merab Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is not very keen on seeing the name of Umar Nurmagomedov come up in the UFC bantamweight title contention just yet.
Hailing from the iconic Dagestan, Umar (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) is fresh off a unanimous decision win over Bekzat Almakhan at UFC Vegas 87 on 2nd March and the undefeated Russian is eyeing to get the Cory Sandhagen fight rebooked next.
Now- the speculations among the MMA fandom is that, getting a fight booked with Sanghagen- currently ranked third in the division, and winning the fight, might land Umar a step closer to the 135-pound title fight.
Merab Dvalishvili insists Umar Nurmagomedov needs to fight bigger names
Here’s where Dvalishvili steps in. The gritty Georgian- who is currently on a staggering 10 fight win streak and has remained undefeated in the Octagon since 2018, believes Umar needs some more weight to his resume, other than the weight of his surname or background.
“There is a guy from Dagestan, he’s a good fighter, but he fight nobody,” said Dvalishvili during a recent interview with MMA Junkie. “He fought somebody from debut, and now he wants to fight for the belt. It’s not how it works. I think it’s very disrespectful. There are other guys who have a long winning streak, and he should fight them.”
“And then fight somebody in the top 10, then top five, and then belt. You fight nobody, and now you want to fight for the belt? He’s a good guy, I like him, I respect him, but he’s talking trash about myself, talking trash to everybody. He’s calling top guys. He’s a good fighter, but come on, bro. You got to fight somebody good,” he added.
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