UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili hasn’t changed his tune towards Umar Nurmagomedov.
Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) was not sold on Nurmagomedov being a worthy contender when he had to defend his belt against him at UFC 311 in January. Dvalishvili ended up handing Nurmagomedov his first-career loss to notch his first title defense.
Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) hasn’t fought since but returns against Mario Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) at UFC 321 on Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi. Dvalishvili was asked if he sees that matchup as a No. 1 contender.
“I hope Bautista whoops Umar’s ass,” Dvalishvili told MMA Junkie. “I will fight Bautista next because Bautista is a good fighter. He has a good winning streak, he beat a lot of good guys, and he’s the most deserving guy. Bautista’s cousin’s name is not Khabib. That’s why he needs a nine-fight winning streak to maybe fight for the belt.
“Some people can get a title fight after a six-fight win streak, fighting nobodies, without ranked opponents. So yeah, Bautista could be next or there are some other fights in our division, and after that, we will have more contenders in our weight class.”
After beating Nurmagomedov and submitting Sean O’Malley at UFC 316 in June, Dvalishvili will look to notch his third title defense of 2025 when he meets Cory Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the UFC 321 co-main event on Oct. 4 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
