Merab Dvalishvili has made it pretty clear that he did not, and still doesn't, believe that Umar Nurmagomedov is the rightful next title challenger.
Whilst the champion has said that his next opponent at UFC 311 has jumped the queue, the undefeated Nurmagomedov believes that the current titleholder was hoping to keep hold of the title for a bit longer.
The challenger spoke in a recent interview with Brett Okamoto on the UFC's YouTube channel about why he thinks the champion was consistently playing down the idea of fighting him.
Eventually, Dvalishvili grew tired of being respected with claims that he was ducked Nurmagomedov and he agreed to take the fight at the first PPV card of 2025.
“I think he just wants to fight with a guy who [he] can beat,” Nurmagomedov said on the UFC’s YouTube channel. “It does not mean I 100 percent go inside the cage and smash him. No. He knows, other guys, he will beat [them]. Me? It’s going to be hard. That’s why he tried to be champion a long time. He wants to fight with (Sean) O’Malley or with Petr Yan or someone else because he knows these guys, easy money. Me? Not."
Dvalishvili has been very outspoken about the idea that he doesn't think he is getting the respect he deserves, criticizing his first title challenger for not being humble when he has not earned this opportunity.
However, for Nurmagomedov, he knows that the champion is not scared to fight him.
He simply believes that there were easier fights out there for Dvalishvili which wouldn't have pushed him to the absolute limit like this one will.
“For me, he has to go deep waters. For me, it’s going to be a long night. I will not give him takedowns; he will not control me. I have good skills, striking skills, and I can make for him a lot of problems. That’s why. But when we go inside the cage, I will not think he’s scared of me. I will know this is a man who will try to beat me. I am a man who will try to smash him, and it’s going to be a battle.
“What I know, what I understand, he does not [want a] risky fight. He can beat me; it can happen. It’s not going to break me. I will be the same Umar. Fighting is fighting. Everybody can lose, everybody can win. We’re not talking about what’s going to happen in the fight. If we’re talking about scared, I think he just wants to take [less] risk.”
Watch the full interview below:
