Merab Dvalishvili is making waves in the bantamweight division as the newly crowned champion, but it seems he’s got his sights set on a rematch with Sean O’Malley instead of his next contender, Umar Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili recently blocked Nurmagomedov on Instagram, sparking some buzz about his intentions as a fighting champion.
While Umar is poised to challenge for the title next, Merab seems to have been triggered by O’Malley claiming he won three of the five rounds in their fight. This unexpected twist in the bantamweight storyline has fans wondering what’s next for the champion and whether he can resist the pressure to defend his title against the top contender.
There was a lot of animosity between Dvalishvili and O’Malley going into the fight but both men had acknowledged that irrespective of who the winner was, Nurmagomedov would be next in line.
However, as soon as he won the belt, ‘The Machine’ changed his tone. At first, he wanted to fight Deiveson Figueiredo. Then when O’Malley shared on social media that he felt he had won three rounds, ‘The Machine’ wanted a rematch with ‘Suga’.
Unfortunately, both these scenarios leave Umar out of the picture who has been going back and forth with Merab on Twitter.
— Umar Nurmagomedov (@UNmgdv) September 28, 2024
And now it appears as though the champion has had enough. The ‘Young Eagle’ shared a screenshot of him being blocked on Instagram by Merab with a few laughing emojis to go with it.
But that’s okay with Nurmagomedov because has no plans of waiting around for Merab’s antics to be over. If he is not given a title shot next, he is perfectly fine taking on another fighter instead of sitting on the sidelines. As he said it on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, the endgame for him is beating his legendary cousin’s 29-0.
Umar’s chasing 29-0, not titles
The unbeaten fighter, currently ranked as the number two contender in the bantamweight division has made it clear that he’s ready to fight sooner rather than later. After his recent victory at UFC 306, many fans expected him to be next in line for a title shot against Merab Dvalishvili.
But it’s not titles he’s after. The younger Nurmagomedov cousin understands that titles will come if he keeps winning. Right now, the bar for him is to beat the 29-0, already set for him by his cousin, Khabib.
“I would rather fight within the next few months than just sit and wait,” Umar stated, showing his eagerness to stay active.
He even acknowledged Dvalishvili’s comments about wanting to face Deiveson Figueiredo, saying, “Umar is OK, but I’m telling you guys, from the top 15, he’s only won one fight”.
The ‘Young Eagle’ is not bothered with the title as long as he keeps fighting and stacking up wins. Eventually there will be a point where him fighting for the title will become inevitable, as it did with Khabib following that Conor McGregor fight.
