Merab Dvalishvili won the UFC Bantamweight Championship against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in the Sphere, Las Vegas on September 15, 2024. It was a life-long dream come true moment for the Georgian-born fighter who has seen the toughest curves that life has to offer. But his well-deserved and dreamy title reign might end as soon as it started. Because there is a certain individual waiting in the shadows for his chance at a title shot. This individual’s name is Umar Nurmagomedov.
In the MMA world, the name Nurmagomedov strikes fear in the minds of opponents thanks to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s heroics inside the Octagon over the years. But now, there is yet another Nurmagomedov on the blocks. And that is the 135lbs fighter Umar Nurmagomedov who is up till now unbeaten in the Bantamweight category with an MMA record of 18-0-0.
Not only does he have the world-class wrestling and grappling abilities that fighters from Dagestan usually possess, but also has very good striking which seemingly precedes both Islam Makhachev and Khabib, the other two UFC fighters who know how it is to reach the top of UFC.
In his UFC career, 6-0-0 and has always outclassed his opponents throughout his fights. Many believe that he should rightly be next in line for the UFC Bantamweight championship. This is not because he is the top contender, because that is Sean O’Malley. But because of the way O’Malley got mauled by Merab during their fight in September. There’s no way that Sean O’Malley could take on Merab yet again and put up a stronger challenge.
And Merab Dvalishvili knows this. Then why did the current champion go on social media and advocate for a rematch? Was it because he was scared of losing his belt as soon as he got it to Umar Nurmagomedov? That might very well be the case. After Sean O’Malley’s antics on social media following his defeat, Merab tweeted, “I hear O’Malley thinks he won the fight and is looking for a rematch. If he wants it he can have it. Let’s do it November 16th at the Garden and then I’ll still defend the title against whoever the UFC wants me to fight next. What do you think?@SugaSeanMMA“
Well, everyone knows that Sean has also talked about stepping away from UFC for a while. So if anything, Merab is clutching at invisible straws. He very well might be intimidated by the challenge in front of him, that being Umar Nurmagomedov. “The Machine” has further claimed these accusations to be totally false suggesting that he is happy to take on anyone the UFC gives him after a rematch with Sean and that he is not scared of Umar.
If that’s the case, why go for a rematch in the first place? Well whatever the case, UFC might very quickly book a matchup between Umar Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili for the Bantamweight title. Who do you think will come out on top in that matchup? The “Young Eagle” or “The Machine”?
