Umar Nurmagomedov believes he has some of the best grappling and wrestling in the UFC bantamweight division, but if he wants to be the best, he knows there’s at least one person who could also challenge for that moniker.
Top-ranked contender Merab Dvalishvili averages nearly seven takedowns for every 15 minutes he spends in the octagon, and that’s likely a strategy he’ll employ when he battles Sean O’Malley for the bantamweight title at UFC 306 on Sept. 14. Dvalishvili enters the fight coming off of 10 straight wins after making a steady ascension up the rankings at 135 pounds.
As impressive as Dvalishvili has been during that run, Nurmagomedov believes the 33-year-old should have faced a tougher challenge when Dvalishvili beat Henry Cejudo via decision in his most recent outing in February.
“I don’t know why Cejudo showed a very bad fight [against Dvalishvili],” Nurmagomedov told MMA Fighting. “I think he went down because of age, three years without a fight, but I think if they [would have fought] when Cejudo was in his prime, I think it’s going to be a different result.”
That being said, Nurmagomedov has been impressed by Dvalishvili in recent years, especially the way he employs his wrestling and grappling in all of his fights. Dvalishvili’s ability to showcase relentless pressure while spamming takedowns has allowed him to take out several top-ranked opponents, including a lopsided win over ex-champion Petr Yan.
While his attention is focused on Cory Sandhagen in their main event fight at UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday, Nurmagomedov always keeps a close eye on potential competition.
“Right now, Merab is doing very well,” Nurmagomedov said. “His wrestling is very good. You don’t know when he’s going for a takedown or when he’s going to punch you. He mixes both very good. But with me, I don’t know how he’s going to do because I have good wrestling too. I can strike. I can give him one leg all day and he won’t take me down. We’re going to see.
“It’s going to make sense [for us to fight] if he beats O’Malley. Right now we have a contender fight with me and Cory.”
Nurmagomedov believes a win over Sandhagen makes him the No. 1 contender in the division, and he welcomes the chance to face Dvalishvili if the Georgian wrestler becomes champion.
The only problem is Nurmagomedov isn’t convinced Dvalishvili gets through Sean O’Malley when they meet in the UFC 306 main event. One thing Nurmagomedov knows for certain, however, is that Dvalishvili needs to pour everything into that fight because he may not get another chance like that again.
“If Merab loses, he’s never going to fight for the title again,” Nurmagomedov said. “He’s 34 or 35, and I don’t know many times or how many years he has to fight for a win streak to fight for the title. But I want a fight with him. I don’t care. Him or O’Malley or someone else, I want to fight with everyone.
“[O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili is] difficult for a prediction. It’s like, who’s going to do his job? If Merab will do his job with takedowns, hold him, dominate on the ground, he’s going to win. If O’Malley doesn’t let him come close and he uses his boxing and kicks, he’s going to win. It depends on who is going to prepare better. I can’t say 100 percent who is going to win. O’Malley’s fight with Aljamain Sterling, everybody thought it was going to be an easy fight for Aljamain. Everybody was waiting on how he was going to choke [O’Malley], but O’Malley knocked him out. That’s why it’s difficult. It’s a very good fight for fans and for me too.”
If Dvalishvili gets the job done, Nurmagomedov anticipates an intriguing fight between the two best wrestlers in the division, but he shows no fear matching his takedowns against anyone in the UFC.
“I think this question is open,” Nurmagomedov said. “We’ll know this when I fight with Merab. Because he has a lot of takedowns in his fights and I have many takedowns in my fights. We’re going to see. I hope we’re going to check this. I hope I’m going to fight with Merab and we’re going to know who is best.”
Nurmagomedov also praised O’Malley for the job he’s done as champion by knocking out Sterling to win the belt and then dominating Marlon Vera in his first title defense.
While O’Malley hasn’t exactly been kind in return, Nurmagomedov can’t help but give the the champ his flowers for proving himself time and time again in the octagon.
“He’s a good fighter,” Nurmagomedov said of O’Malley. “He shows this with Petr Yan and he showed this with ‘Chito’ Vera too. He’s a good striker. For bantamweight, he’s tall and he has good technique. He deserves to be champion.
“He beat these guys. We can’t say it was a very close fight and he won because judges made a mistake. He’s dominating and he’s fighting good. I think he’s the champion.”
