As we head into UFC 306 this weekend at the Sphere, the Dagestani camp, much like everybody else is closely following the action. With the bantamweight title fight set as the main event, breakout bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz has prophesized that his client will reign supreme as the champion in 2025.
Umar shot to fame after he defeated former title contender, Cory Sandhagen and ever since then, he has been touted as the next champion, at least by his close ones. His manager, Ali recently took to “X” to drop the prediction.
“2025 @UNmgdv will be a champion. Nobody can stop him Inshallah.”
2025 @UNmgdv will be a champion. Nobody can stop him Inshallah. pic.twitter.com/JDUcMmPe0f
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) September 13, 2024
Tagging the Russian, Ali edited out a Cillian Murphy-inspired Peaky Blinder poster with Umar’s head on it, all draped in black like a true gangster with a Tommy gun in his hand.
He also noted that there’s no stopping the Russian’s ascension to the throne and predicted that by god’s will, he will be crowned the 135-lb champion next year, possibly teasing a potential title fight negotiation.
Meanwhile, the #1 contender and UFC 306 main eventer, Merab Dvalishvili doubled down with an infra dig, promising to dominate the Dagestani.
Merab deems Umar Nurmagomedov as an “easy fight”
#1 ranked & #2 ranked bantamweight contenders Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov have been trading shots online for a few weeks now.
Following his first main event win over ‘The Sandman’ in August in Abu Dhabi, UFC President/CEO Dana White declared Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) the #1 contender, the next in line to have a crack at the title.
However, ‘The Machine’ took offense to this and called it out, essentially claiming that he is undeserving of a title fight since he has beaten only one of the top 15 ranked fighters, thus stirring the pot for an online back and forth.
Now ahead of his hotly anticipated UFC 306 title fight against champion, Sean O’Malley, Merab has taken another swing at the Russian, saying that a fight against Umar would be a cakewalk for him.
During an interview with MMA Junkie, the Georgian fighter said,
“I never choose my next opponent. If Umar is my next opponent, that’s fine. Me and my team, we will work and we will train. That fight, I think it’s easy for me. That fight is no problem for me. I will dominate him.”
While he mentioned that he isn’t the one choosing his opponents, Merab also revealed his desire to fight former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo instead of the Russian as he believes the Brazilian is far more deserving.
