Coach: Merab Dvalishvili bantamweight GOAT if he beats Umar Nurmagomedov

John Wood argues that Merab Dvalishvili could separate himself with a win at UFC 311.

Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) defends his bantamweight title against Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in the Jan. 18 co-main event from Inglewood, Calif. (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).

With wins over the likes of former champions Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, Jose Aldo, and Sean O’Malley already on his resume, Wood says beating Nurmagomedov would make Dvalishvili the greatest bantamweight of all time.

“(If) Merab goes out and beats Umar, which I believe he will, I think there’s no question that he’s the bantamweight GOAT,” Wood told Inside Fighting. “And had all those guys that he beat been title defenses, it’s not even a question now. So I think we’re looking at the next bantamweight GOAT here shortly.”

Dvalishvili is adamant that Nurmagomedov does not deserve a title shot and has been pretty riled up in the lead-up to the fight. Wood admits Dvalishvili is an emotional guy but assures that he’s honed in.

“He was motivated and emotional by Petr Yan,” Wood said. “He was motivated and emotional with Henry Cejudo at one point. He was motivated and emotional with O’Malley, so it’s no different. That is part of the process that we get into. He doesn’t have to hate somebody or be whatever to be motivated, but it’s part of the process.

“He gets into the fight. He’s there to fight, he’s there to go out there and do battle with the person across the cage. This one, there’s been a little more emotion to it as far as he feels a little disrespected that he is the champion, and that there’s a lot of debate on whether Umar deserves the title shot.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.