Merab Dvalishvili didn’t get anything handed to him as he rose up the UFC ranks before finally being granted a title shot against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306.
The Georgian fighter put together a remarkable 10-fight win streak and had to take out three former champions — Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo — in order to secure his shot at gold. Of course, Dvalishvili isn’t afraid of a little hard work, but that also makes him a little bit salty when he hears Umar Nurmagomedov being called the No. 1 contender in the division following his win over Cory Sandhagen in August.
As impressive as it was for Nurmagomedov to beat Sandhagen in his first fight against a ranked opponent, Dvalishvili believes the Russian bantamweight got preferential treatment built solely around his famous last name.
“Let’s talk about it this way — Umar is a good fighter, we all know this, but he fights nobody from the top 15, and now of course UFC gives him a gift [with] No. 2 Cory Sandhagen; if he wins, he’s right there,” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting.
“Now he wins, so now he’s right there. He’s been disrespectful. He’s calling [out] Sean O’Malley, he’s calling [out] me. Like bro, give us respect and let us fight and chill out a little bit. What the f*ck? You don’t fight nobody and now you just got here because your last name is Nurmagomedov, because you’re Khabib’s cousin.”
Of course, Khabib Nurmagomedov retired undefeated as the reigning UFC lightweight champion and remains one of the most talked about fighters on the planet despite not fighting since 2020.
He also serves as one of Umar’s primary coaches after both came up under family patriarch Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov while growing up in Dagestan.
Familial ties or not, Dvalisvhili feels like Nurmagomedov slid into the fight against Sandhagen without really earning it, and now he’s trying to do the same with a potential title shot looming on the horizon.
“Good for him, but he has to grow up,” Dvalishvili said. “He has to be more of a man. He has to respect fighters here. We’ve been here a long time and he’s acting a little bit disrespectful. He’s talking too much. I’m talking about the truth.
“Yes, he’s a good fighter, but he got pushed because he’s Khabib’s cousin and he has to be humble. He has to be a little bit relaxed. He shows us disrespect, and same thing, he’s going to get it at the right time when the time comes. Now, let us fight and wait your turn.”
With the bantamweight title up for grabs at UFC 306, Dvalishvili would like to see Nurmagomedov get another quality win before he starts calling for his own shot at the championship.
“He should just fight [Deiveson] Figueiredo,” Dvalishvili said. “He should fight somebody. [Maybe] Petr Yan. He just beat one guy from the top 15. Come on, chill out a little bit. That’s all I have for him. I don’t want to talk about him. That’s it.
“Let them fight each other, Figueiredo versus Umar, that would be a good fight. Actually Figueiredo deserves it more. He’s a former champion, he’s a big name. He’s been fighting. He already beat one former champion and two guys from the top 15. Actually, [Marlon] ‘Chito’ Vera doesn’t count because ‘Chito’ Vera is not a top-15 fighter. He sucks. But Figueiredo deserves it more. He has my respect. He’s a man and he’s been respectful and he’s cool and he didn’t get here because he’s somebody’s cousin. He got here by himself. He’s a good fighter. He’s been there. He was a champion. At least he’s humble and he’s a real fighter.”
Since moving to bantamweight, former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo has been impressive with wins over Vera, Cody Garbrandt, and Rob Font, but it remains to be seen if he’ll get a title shot.
Obviously, Dvalishvili prefers that option if he beats O’Malley on Sept. 14, but he definitely doesn’t want to hear about Nurmagomedov getting that opportunity off one win over a top-five ranked opponent.
“Umar talking about [a title shot], some bullshit there,” Dvalishvili “[Before he fought Sandhagen] he defeated somebody [in their] debut and then now he wants to fight for the belt? You are out of your mind.”
