Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t consider Umar Nurmagomedov’s damage speak one bit forward of their bantamweight title struggle.
Dvalishvili places his title on the road for the primary time in opposition to the undefeated Nurmagomedov within the co-main occasion of UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. In a current interview with ESPN, Nurmagomedov was requested about an arm damage he revealed in November, however stated he nonetheless accepted the struggle after feeling higher “20 days” later. Nurmagomedov additionally claims he’s been wholesome for the coaching camp, maybe correctly not placing a goal on the damage.
No matter what’s actual and what isn’t, Dvalishvili isn’t shopping for what Nurmagomedov is promoting.
“He’s bullshitting,” Dvalishvili instructed MMA Combating. “He’s a bullshit man and I’m not shopping for it. It’s bullshit, you realize, his damage. Like he has little damage in his arm and he was… like I had an damage, large damage however I’m not mentioning this. I’m not mentioning this one, you realize. All people has an damage and each skilled fighter has an damage and like, he’s bullshitting.”
“He stated he was coaching, I noticed he was punching luggage excellent when he arrived in Vegas—you possibly can go and see within the video he posted. He was punching bag and when you’ve got any drawback together with your hand, you gained’t be capable of punch the bag, after which he was punching bag very regular and I believe he’s simply mentioning this [to make] some excuse.”
Since successful the belt in opposition to Sean O’Malley at UFC 306, Dvalishvili has been vocal that Nurmagomedov hasn’t carried out sufficient to earn a bantamweight title alternative, particularly after the street that “The Machine” needed to journey to get his crack at UFC gold.
Regardless, he’s giving Nurmagomedov—who defeated Cory Sandhagen in his most up-to-date outing in the principle occasion of UFC Abu Dhabi in August—his title shot, and on Nurmagomedov’s timeline.
“It’s kinda slightly bit [of a] fast turnaround for me as a result of, ideally, I needed to struggle in February or March, however [UFC 312] is in Australia, and in March, Umar don’t need the struggle [at UFC 313] due to Ramadan,” Dvalishvili stated. “Now, I’ve to struggle on my holidays and it’s slightly bit [of a] fast turnaround, however I’m all lean and able to go. …
“Yeah, Cory Sandhagen struggle was good, however my drawback was earlier than he wasn’t combating anyone, the ranked guys. [The] struggle earlier than, he [fought] debut man and due to [the] win in opposition to debut man, he fights No. 2, which for me, it’s not proper. It’s a shortcut and it’s dishonest. And, yeah, the struggle was good. It’s not simple to beat Cory Sandhagen like this, and Umar is an efficient fighter, however like you need to finish it. There’s Mario Bautista, has seven-fight win streak and I believe Bautista earned it much more [than Umar].”
Dvalishvili plans to be energetic in 2025. Ought to he get by Nurmagomedov, he’s eyeing a struggle in opposition to Petr Yan “in March,” after which he’d like to show round a month later to face O’Malley in a rematch “in April.”
Step one is to dispatch of Nurmagomedov on the UFC’s first pay-per-view of 2025.
“I’m going to try to end him,” Dvalishvili stated.
