Merab Says Umar Is Favored Due to Khabib Nurmagomedov Ties, Vows Not to ‘Hype’ Him

Merab Dvalishvili is hinting at nepotism in the UFC. He believes the #2 ranked bantamweight contender, Umar Nurmagomedov, cousin brother to Khabib Nurmagomedov shouldn’t deserve a title shot after just one win against a top 5 opponent.

Following his win against Cory Sandhagen, Umar took his spot in the rankings and is also now actively looking to challenge for the title. Dvalishvili for one, is not having any of it as he recently revealed.

This is not the first time the Georgian has expressed his views regarding ‘Young Eagle’. He has always called out the ‘nepotism’ that brought him to where he is.

Dvalishvili recently appeared on the Pound 4 Pound show hosted by Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo. While on the show, he spoke about Umar being hyped up as a the next big thing and alleged that he was only being pushed because he has a famous cousin in the company.

“I don’t like hype, and I don’t like because you’re somebody’s cousin and that’s why you got pushed. If the UFC offers me to fight him I will fight…I don’t know if I can even joke (with) him.”

The Georgian is also worried if he will be able to troll him if they do end up fighting. Of course all this is dependent on whether he can get past O’Malley on Saturday night and become the first Georgian UFC champion.

But before that fight even materializes, both Merab and O’Malley have been trolling each other.

For instance, the champ wore the same jacket that Dvalishvili had stolen from him to the UFC 306 press conference.

Dvalishvili makes title for jacket deal

Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili’s rivalry began when the Georgian stole the champ’s jacket as a part of Aljamain Sterling’s entourage.

‘Sugar’ decided to bring back the jacket for their ow press conference and even spoke about how it was the beginning of their rivalry. In response, ‘The Machine’ proposed a deal.

“Dana asked me to give you jacket back otherwise I will keep the jacket. Looking good on you today. You can have your jacket I’m gonna take your belt on Saturday.”

 

️ “You can have the jacket, I’m going to take your belt!”

Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili exchange words #UFC306 pic.twitter.com/1hRXtrPwFY

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) September 13, 2024

‘The Machine’ doesn’t care too much for the jacket anymore. He has his eyes fixed on something else that belongs to Sean O’Malley at the moment. He has fought long and hard enough and still had to wait a million years for this title shot and he doesn’t want to let it go.