Team Merab Continues Bashing Umar Nurmagomedov for ‘Golden Ticket’ to Title Shot

Head coach of Merab Dvalishvili thinks the UFC gifted the title opportunity to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 and will do so again.

Team Merab Continues Bashing Umar Nurmagomedov for ‘Golden Ticket’ to Title Shot

Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov (via MMA Fighting)

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Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov will go down as one of the most prominent bitter rivals in bantamweight history other than TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt. They don’t hide their feelings about each other, and constantly attack the other in various interviews. As such, Dvalishvili openly wished for Mario Bautista to defeat Nurmagomedov in their upcoming UFC 321 encounter.

Umar Nurmagomedov fired back, and stated that the champion was scared about his chances in a potential rematch. After Dvalishvili defended the belt against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320, Aljamain Sterling asked Nurmagomedov to stand in a queue for the next title shot. This was because the Dagestani fighter must need a winning streak to warrant another title shot.

Dvalishvili has always stated that Umar received the title shot because he was the cousin of UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov. Moreover, Umar got his first title shot after just one ranked win in the UFC, which came against Sandhagen in 2024. If ‘Young Eagle’ gets past Bautista, should Umar receive the next title shot is something that is very much debated on social media.

Some believe that Nurmagomedov deserves the title shot because there were no other contenders in the bantamweight division. Meanwhile, others want the UFC to stop gifting title shots just because someone has a name value.

Same instance happened with Sean O’Malley this year when he suddenly received a title rematch against Dvalishvili at UFC 316 because of star power, which attracted significant backlash. The champion’s coach, John Wood, recently spoke about Umar Nurmagomedov receiving a title shot with just one win, and why the UFC would gift a title shot.

Umar had to beat one ranked guy to get the title shot. It seems like he’s kind of got the golden ticket to jump the line, and obviously, there’s a lot of money and there are a lot of people backing him and wanting to see that rematch and wanting to see Umar become champion. If Bautista finishes Umar, he’s obviously next. Bautista’s kind of on Merab’s stage where he’s gonna have to beat everyone in front of him to get that title shot. It’s very clear that the UFC favors Umar and would like to put him back in that.

John Wood via MMA Fighting

For now, the UFC has booked Dvalishvili against Petr Yan for December’s UFC 323 PPV card. If the Georgian fighter manages another title defense, there is a chance that UFC pushes for the winner of Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista as the next contender for the title.

Dana White revealed surprising circumstance of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov happening at UFC 311

Last year at UFC 306 at the Las Vegas Sphere, Merab Dvalishvili dominated Sean O’Malley to win the bantamweight title. Soon after, he was pressured into accepting a title fight against Umar Nurmagomedov. At first, the Georgian fighter rejected awarding a title shot to the Dagestani native.

Merab Dvalishvili promises to destroy Umar Nurmagomedov in a title rematch
Merab Dvalishvili vs Umar Nurmagomedov (via X)

This led to then-lightweight champion Islam Makhachev calling out Dvalishvili for allegedly ducking his compatriot. Soon after, Umar Nurmagomedov also started to accuse the champion of ducking him. After a series of provocation, the Georgian fighter sought out Dana White to book the title fight for UFC 311.

On fight night, Dvalishvili donned a Georgian-style custom shorts for his first title defense. Initially, ‘Young Eagle’ had the upper hand with many significant strikes. However, by the end of second round, Nurmagomedov started slowing down and Dvalishvili started to put on more pressure.

By outworking Nurmagomedov everywhere for the last three rounds, Merab Dvalishvili earned a unanimous decision to defend his title. This moment also became a redemption arc for him as the Georgian fighter put the ducking rumor to rest by dismantling the opposition. From the look of things, this rivalry is far from over and a rematch in 2026 is likely possible.

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