Ever since Umar Nurmagomedov’s ascension into the top 5, UFC bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili has cited multiple reasons to deny him a title fight. But this particular excuse takes the bloody cake!
After beating former title challenger, Cory Sandhagen to a decision win at Abu Dhabi, the ‘Young Eagle ‘ became a credible contender for the title.
But the champ thinks otherwise. Earlier, Dvaishvili denied him a title fight, claiming that he had fought nobody except for ‘The Sandman’ and asked Umar to wait his turn while the Georgian wanted to run it back with Sean O’Malley.
And now, Dvalishvili is saying that he was forced to not give him a title shot because of his disrespectful rants.
“I blocked Umar (Nurmagomedov) because he was talking disrespectfully. I was ready to fight him but he was just, just disrespectful on Twitter …and that’s why I block him!”
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In an exclusive to Red Corner MMA, the champ justified his decision to block Umar. He alleged that the #2 contender was disrespecting him. Honestly, the situation is a bit bizarre here.
While the champion earlier stated that he wanted some off time to relax, he responded to O’Malley’s callout and agreed to fight him this year while denying Umar a title shot.
On top of that, he also welcomed a fight with former flyweight king, Deiveson Figueiredo. Seems odd? It does, doesn’t it? ‘The Machine‘ somehow seems like he is delaying the fight with the Russian while simultaneously claiming he was ready to fight him all this time!
The Georgian had also wanted to fight O’Malley in November but told Umar that the December timeline that the Dagestani wanted for his title shot would be too early for the cham
If only there was a word in the English dictionary to describe all of this!
Merab on easy O’Malley fight
Last month, Dvalishvili realized his long-awaited dream of becoming a UFC champion by beating ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley at Noche UFC. The two went at it in what was UFC’s debut event at the iconic Sphere and in the end, the wrestler outmuscled the then-champion to capture his belt via decision.
Now months after denying Umar Nurmagomedov his title show, Dvalishvili is ready to run it back again with O’Malley in November. Confused? Well, the champion does have his justifications. During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, he said,
“I already fought him, and it’s easy to come back because we’re both in the same situation. We both fought on September 14th and we would both step back [into the octagon] on the same day. But when somebody else has been ready for me, preparing for me, that’s a different story. With O’Malley it’s easy, we’re both in the same situation.”
He also explained why it was okay to fight O’Malley in November and added,
“That’s why I told him we could do a quick turnaround for November… But to fight somebody new, somebody with a different style. Yeah, I need time. I need two or three months.”
While that seems logical, and he as the champion can dictate the terms, fans have taken it in the wrong way, alleging that the Georgian is… ducking! Yes, that is the word!
