Merab Dvalishvili has accused Umar Nurmagomedov of ‘cheating’ with his route to a shot at UFC gold.
The Russian is undefeated in 18 professional fights, but save for a win over Corey Sandhagen, his resume is lacking in major names. However, at UFC 311 he will get a shot at Dvalishvili’s bantamweight belt in the co-main event.
Both men are said to be bringing injuries into the Octagon, with the champion repeatedly claiming that he would have preferred a later date.
- Who is Khabib Nurmagomedov? Inside the life of the most dominant UFC fighter of all time
Merab believes that Umar Nurmagomedov does not deserve title fight
To earn his way to a UFC title fight, Merab Dvalishvili, had to overcome former champions in Petr Yan, Jose Aldo and Henry Cejudo. But for Umar Nurmagomedov, the requirement was just six fights, and one ranked opponent to get the same opportunity.
Speaking in his role as a Stake Ambassador ahead of UFC 311, the champion told Bloody Elbow, in an exclusive chat “I never said he wasn’t a good fighter, I say he’s a good fighter – but he takes shortcuts you know?
“He cheats a little bit. Because he was fighting nobodies, he fought a debut guy and then from debut guy, he fought number two, that’s a gift and that’s a shortcut. That’s not how you want to earn your title fight.
“That’s not right, in my opinion, he was supposed to fight, one more. Like maybe against Song Yadong, then yes. But once UFC asked me, I said okay, I will fight him, but I wanted to fight in February or March. That’s what I said.”
Merab Dvalishvili wanted later date for first title defence
After winning the belt in September at UFC 306 against Sean O’Malley, Dvalishvili expected a lengthy break from competition. He suggested other contenders and a date in February or March, but ended up accepting Nurmagomedov as his opponent on a date in January.
“I was ready to fight and come back after five or six months, like every champion does,” he explained. “They even take more time. But when I say I was gonna fight February or March, Umar started complaining and blaming me and disrespecting me.
“When I said fight February or March, he said February fight was in Australia and March was Ramadan. I had no idea because last year, Ramadan was in May. It’s not my problem also – I’m a champion.
“So Umar wanted to fight January, and UFC asked me. Then I went to UFC and I said, OK, I will step up. I love UFC so no problem.”
- Who is Dana White? All you need to know about the CEO and President of the UFC
from Bloody Elbow https://ift.tt/JNqj6sb
