Merab Dvalishvili didn't intend on making the first defence of his bantamweight title at the first UFC PPV of the year.
The Georgian is set to face the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event of UFC 311 in a fight that to him, is about respect.
In a recent interview with Megan Olivi for ESPN MMA, he spoke about his initial plans after winning the title by defeating Sean O'Malley at UFC 306:
"Now, I was so excited to maybe, when Petr call me, I was going to fight him in March and O'Malley said he was going to come back in April, I was going to fight him in Miami. Maybe I was thinking since Umar can't fight in March, maybe I was thinking he can fight in May but everything flipped and now, here we are. I take this challenger and I'm here talking with you."
Dvalishvili spoke about the positives and negatives that has come with with his title win at the Sphere in September.
On one hand, he has become a hero for the Georgian people but he has also attracted some criticism and though he admitted that he's still learning to deal with the drama, continuing to win inside the Octagon is what he does best.
He believes that unlike his run to the title, Nurmagomedov has not earned this opportunity and that gets him fired up.
"Umar is a good fighter, it's a big challenge but he don't earn it like rest of us, you know. We all work hard to get here and I don't get anything easy but Umar somehow gets easy. He just complains all the time that nobody want to fight him but there is so many killers. There is Bautista, there is other fighters, they are killers... he fought only Sandhagen, no wrestling, because I guess he's using this excuse, he beat number two guy and now he's here. It's a big challenge but I just, only what I hate he just don't earn it like real UFC fighter should earn it and then he's just cocky. He should be humble at least but he was disrespecting me online."
Dvalishvili's plans changed when he decided that it was time to silence the undefeated challenger which meant going against the advice of the people around him.
Rather than taking some time off like he planned, the champion is right back to work in order to show why he is the best 135-pound fighter in the world.
"I like to take this challenge. Like I said, I want to give people what they want and I want to give the UFC what the UFC wants and I'm tired of listening to Umar's disrespect.
Watch the full interview below:
