Umar Nurmagomedov: UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili delaying title fight shows he's 'scared'
Umar Nurmagomedov is convinced Merab Dvalishvili is ducking him.
Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) claimed the No. 1 contender spot when he defeated Cory Sandhagen in his first UFC headliner in August. One month later, Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) dethroned Sean O’Malley to become bantamweight champion at UFC 306.
Dvalishvili has been dismissing Nurmagomedov as a rightful contender since prior to even winning the title. Nurmagomedov thinks Dvalishvili refusing to acknowledge him is not a good look, and claims Dvalishvili is purposely trying to push for March – where Nurmagomedov won’t compete because of Ramadan.
“Merab is trying to avoid my name, trying to tell me that I don’t deserve (a title shot),” Nurmagomedov told Kevin Iole. “Even if the UFC will ask him to fight me or someone else, I think he will choose someone else 100 times. He’s playing games. They know that I will not fight in Ramadan and they’re telling us we’re going to fight in March. March is all Ramadan.
“It’s looking very bad. It’s looking like he’s trying to avoid (me), like he is scared. I don’t understand how the champion is trying to avoid, but if they won’t fight with me, I don’t want to wait. Summer: June, July, May – I want to fight now. I want to fight after two months, before Ramadan, and I want to be active, and we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
Nurmagomedov’s patience is running thin. He has already opted to remain active by booking a grappling match Oct. 25 at ADXC 7, and is even contemplating taking another fight if Dvalishvili won’t fight him before Ramadan.
“I want to be active, and I want to fight before Ramadan,” Nurmagomedov said. “Maybe January or December it’s going to be a good time for me and then after Ramadan, we’ll see. Maybe Merab fights someone else and maybe he will lose, who knows.”
Nurmagomedov says he knew Dvalishvili would win the title if O’Malley couldn’t catch him.
“They’re both not very good,” Nurmagomedov said. “O’Malley’s a bum in MMA. He doesn’t have any grappling. He doesn’t have any wrestling, and he didn’t even try to fight him. He’s just waiting, he’s just running and he fights like a bum. Merab – he’s good. With Merab, you have to go ahead and fight. You can’t beat him when you’re running from him.”