T.J. Dillashaw thinks Sam Calavitta is the one who can help Umar Nurmagomedov’s cardio match UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili’s.
Nurmagomedov’s lone loss came when he was outlasted by Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) in their title fight this past January at UFC 311. He rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Mario Bautista on Saturday’s UFC 321 main card.
Although Nurmagomedov (19-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) swept the scorecards, Dillashaw is still skeptical about his cardio. Khamzat Chimaev just spent a training camp with Calavitta, which resulted in a five-round beatdown of Dricus Du Plessis to claim the middleweight title at UFC 319. Dillashaw wants to see Nurmagomedov do the same.
“I think he’s just surprised by Mario Bautista all around. Like his technique was good, his grappling technique was good, his cardio is better than Umar’s I believe,” Dillashaw said on the JAXXON Podcast. “I think we need to get Umar with Sam Calavita at The Treigning Lab to get him on that conditioning so he can get Merab. He works his ass off. Like, he’s transitioning, he’s working really hard to hold onto position. His pace is really, really high. Most of the time, he can put people out with his pace because he’s technically good, and his pace is great.
“But when they don’t go out, and you’ve got that high a pace, it’s going to catch up to you. Especially a guy like Bautista, who’s got great cardio. Merab is a perfect example. His pace is insane, but his cardio is his best weapon. Someone like this, we need to scientifically treat him like Sam Calavitta would to get him to the next level so he can challenge Merab to the fullest, because Merab is not going to get tired. I think Umar’s got better technique, and he’s got that same pace, he just now needs that last cardio weapon to keep up with Merab.”
No one has had an answer for Dvalishvili’s pace. “The Machine” enters his fourth title defense of the year when he runs things back with Petr Yan in the UFC 323 headliner on Dec. 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
