Umar Nurmagomedov will have his eyes peeled on Merab Dvalishvili’s next title defense against Petr Yan.
Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) makes his fourth title defense of the year when he runs things back with Yan (19-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the UFC 323 headliner on Dec. 6 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Dvalishvili attempted a whopping 49 takedowns on Yan in their first fight en route to a suffocating unanimous decision win in March 2023. He is a moderate favorite to beat Yan again, but Nurmagomedov isn’t counting out the former champion entirely.
“I think yes, he’s very good with his (hands), and always any fighter has a chance,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Junkie of Yan. “Just will depend how he defends takedowns, but he’s very athletic. They’re both good, and we’re going to see what happens.”
Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) will look to rebound from his title loss to Dvalishvili at UFC 311 when he takes on streaking contender Mario Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) at UFC 321 on Oct. 25 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Can a win earn Nurmagomedov a title-fight rematch of his own?
“We’re going to see. Maybe he’s going to take some rest after this fight (with Yan),” Nurmagomedov said. “It’s his fourth fight of the year. It’s not easy. We’ll see what happens after our fights. But I want to fight in January or February. I don’t want to wait for anybody. It’s going to depend on what the UFC says.”
