Umar Nurmagomedov meets with UFC matchmaker just four days before Sean O'Malley's bantamweight title showdown
11/09/2024 11:09
Even though we are only a few days away from Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili fighting for the bantamweight world title, there's already a debate raging over who could next challenge the winner of The Sphere's superb showdown.
In fact, Merab Dvalishvili has already come out to slam the man who many believe to be the next bantamweight title challenger, undefeated Russian star Umar Nurmagomedov.
Umar Nurmagomedov meets with UFC matchmaker ahead of UFC 306
28-year-old bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov is currently 6-0 in the UFC and 18-0 as a professional, having just recently beaten fan-favorite striker Cory Sandhagen via a unanimous decision.
That victory on the dunes of Abu Dhabi was enough to catapult the undefeated Russian into bantamweight title contention, with the belt set to be contested this weekend at UFC 306 in Las Vegas.
Now, just a few days before champion Sean O'Malley defends his title, Umar Nurmagomedov has revealed that he's been meeting with UFC matchmaker extraordinaire Hunter Campbell to plot his next move.
Nurmagomedov shared an image of the two of them to his Instagram page with the caption: "Next contender [green check] – Someone likes it or not. #ufc.office."
Manager Ali Abdelaziz has also confirmed that Umar will be sitting cageside for Noche UFC and that “he will fight the winner of the main event.”
Considering that Umar Nurmagomedov is currently ranked as the #2 best bantamweight in the world, behind only Dvalishvili and champion Sean O'Malley, it would make sense for him to be next in line to challenge for the 135lb title.
However, the Georgian sensation has already come out to slam the undefeated prospect as he suspects the UFC is pushing him into title contention simply because he holds the 'Nurmagomedov' name.
Merab Dvalishvili feels Umar is being pushed due to being 'Khabib's cousin'
Whilst Sean O'Malley has been mostly respectful towards the undefeated Russian, stating that he'd love the fight if he can continue this upward trajectory, his UFC 306 opponent is far from happy with Nurmagomedov's placement in the rankings.
In fact, when speaking to MMAFighting's Damon Martin last month, Dvalishvili would not only claim that Umar doesn't have the resume to merit a title shot, but that the UFC is pushing him into title contention because of his surname.
“Umar is a good fighter, we all know this, but he’s fought nobody from Top 15 and now, UFC gives him gift – No.2 Cory Sandhagen to if he wins, he’s right there [but] if he lost, he will [still] be Top 5 or something… He’s calling [out] Sean O’Malley, he’s calling me. Bro, give us respect and let us fight and chill out a little bit.”
“What the f*** – you don’t fight nobody and now you just got here because your last name is Nurmagomedov because you’re Khabib’s cousin," claimed the 17-4 bantamweight.
"If you ask them, they don’t like trash talk, but they talk trash and they’re acting like they’re tough when it’s in front of cameras… Good for him, but he has to grow up and he has to be more [of a] man because he has to respect fighters here.
"We’ve been here a long time and he’s acting a little bit disrespectful. He's talking too much."
Merab Dvalishvili has the chance to write his name into the history books of the UFC bantamweight division this weekend in the main event of UFC 306, aka Noche UFC.
