“Bullsh*t Guy”: Merab Dvalishvili Respects Umar Nurmagomedov’s Talent but Slams His Character

Merab Dvalishvili is still holding on to a grudge for having to face Umar Nurmagomedov for his first title defense at UFC 311. While he’s been complimentary of Umar’s talent inside the cage, ‘The Machine’ has been vocal about his disapproval of the challenger’s character and the circumstances leading to this fight.

In an interview with Brian Campbell on YouTube, Merab insists that Umar still should have needed to prove himself further inside the octagon before being gifted with a title shot.

“But in my opinion, he has to fight one more fight, not bullsitting us. Like why he not fight Song Yadong? He is a bullsit guy. As a fighter, he’s a good fighter.”

It’s not really surprising to see Merab holding on to this opinion. He had to wait quite a long time before he got his title shot against Sean O’Malley as well. Merab became the #1 contender after defeating former champion Henry Cejudo in February 2024. Before that, he had to defeat world-class fighters like Jose Aldo and Petr Yan to even be considered worthy of being in the conversation.

Even with all this, he still had to pull out all stops and keep calling out O’Malley on social media before the UFC made them both sign on the dotted lines. If O’Malley had his way, he would have moved weight classes to go for a second title.

Umar, on the other hand, has only had 6 fights in the UFC, with only one of them having been against a top-ranked fighter.

This is why Merab remains dissatisfied with what he sees as nepotism and refers to it as “Nurmagomedov privilege“.

The champion is also not happy with the further special treatment, he perceives Umar receives from the UFC. Earlier last month, Merab had claimed he was not allowed into the UFC PI due to Umar’s presence on the premises.

With tensions running this high, this clash is shaping up to be personal more than it is professional.

Then there are the allegations of Merab wanting to ‘duck’ Umar.

Merab isn’t afraid of Umar

Sometime in the last few months, the narrative that Merab wasn’t too keen on fighting Umar because he wanted a few more PPVs as a champion started doing rounds on social media. It also didn’t help Merab’s cause when he was asked about Umar right after winning the title at UFC: Noche and he responded with how much he loved the UFC.

Merab has now finally responded to the allegations and claimed that he has never had any issue with who he fought but didn’t particularly like how Umar went about it.

“I said so many times, I will fight him, it’s just that he has to first respect me. And after Joe Rogan asked me, I said I have to talk to Dana White, and if Dana White wants, let’s do it.”

Despite the animosity, ‘The Machine’ is ready to prove his point in the octagon. For him, this fight is an opportunity to silence any doubts and defend his belt against a fighter he feels still has much to prove.