Despite the rampant criticism from surging undefeated contender Umar Nurmagomedov, UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili just exposed the Russian’s double standards in a recent post.
In response to Nurmagomedov’s recent tweet, the champ clapped back, dropping a brief tweet alleging that the #2 contender was simply lying, making up reasons for denying UFC’s offer to fight Song Yadong.
Calling out his supposed hypocrisy, the Georgian put up a tweet, essentially asking the fandom not to believe the Russian’s cheeky lies while doubling down on his claim. He wrote,
“Don’t be fooled again by the bullsh*t coming out of Umar’s lying mouth. Yadong didn’t pull out of any fight – he was ready – Umar didn’t sign. Keep talking crap – you need to work hard and fight other contenders to be the number one contender.”
Adding, “You are being given a gift from the @ufc as everyone knows without earning it. I can’t wait to smash your face and every lying word that comes out of that mouth when your time comes.”
Earlier last month, Nurmagomedov was in talks to fight the ‘Kung Fu Kid’ in December as his next in lieu of his long sought-after title fight. However, the ‘Young Eagle’ recently took things to “X” to declare that his potential fight with Yadong wasn’t going ahead while poking a sly one at the champion.
In fact, in his tweet, he claimed that the Chinese fighter, claiming injury, had declined the December fight and he was waiting for the UFC to find him a fitting opponent for December.
Dvalishvili in return hit back, clearing the air, essentially deeming that the Russian was lying and Yadong was all set for the December bout, contrary to Umar’s statement. Adding ammunition to his response the champ also doubled down on his earlier statement, reckoning the Russian undeserving of a title shot.
So what is going on here? Here’s a recap of the entire exchange.
The Merab – Umar debacle: What is going on
Well, in short, the champion believes Umar Nurmagomedov needs to put in more work. He believes that the 28-year-old is undeserving of a title shot. And this argument holds to some extent, after all, he has had just one win over a top-ranked fighter – Cory Sandhagen.
While the Georgian is ready to offer the Russian a title fight in February/March, during Ramadan, he is also willing to run it back with Sean O’Malley this year. Dvalishvili reasoned it by saying that he had already fought O’Malley and that to fight a new opponent like Umar, he would require more time.
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This has frustrated the Dagestani quite a lot, who claims that the champion wants to fight a lesser version of him, deeming that he was avoiding the fight.
Nevertheless, the promotion was actively in talks to match him up against young and coming bantamweight Yadong in December—a bout that would set the stage for a title fight next year. But since that is off now, the matchmakers might have to come up with a new name for the Russian.
With the latest development, it seems like the fandom will have to wait longer than anticipated for the grudge match between the Georgian champion and the Dagestani challenger.
