Ex-UFC champion explains why Umar Nurmagomedov beat Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311 in the “full fight”
Merab Dvalishvili became the first to defeat Umar Nurmagomedov in MMA when they clashed at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 for the bantamweight title. 'Young Eagle' labeled the champion as being "scared" to face him, while Dvalishvili was adamant that his opponent was not a deserving title challenger.
Tensions were steadily increasing ahead of fight night as the pair continued to trade words. But when the fight commenced it was 'The Machine' who proved himself to be the superior fighter as he dominated much of the proceedings.
Dvalishvili's relentless pressure and pace were on full display as he pushed his opponent to the point of fatigue, while it appeared that the champion only grew in strength as the fight unfolded.
The 34-year-old secured a unanimous decision win. But according to a former opponent and ex-UFC champion Henry Cejudo, Nurmagomedov won the "full fight."
Cejudo was recently interviewed by Home of Fight, where he said this about the bantamweight title fight at UFC 311:
"It gave me a whole nother level of respect for Merab... It's not like Merab beat the s**t [out of Nurmagomedov]. If you really wanna talk about it. If it was a full fight, damage, as a whole. I would probably give the fight to Umar. But, because it's based on rounds, Merab still got 3."
Watch Henry Cejudo discuss Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov below (10:05):
Merab Dvalishvili shares inside info about Ilia Topuria's lightweight plans
Ilia Topuria's future as the featherweight champion is currently up in the air. In December, the Spaniard's coach shared a surprising revelation about their interest in moving to lightweight.
Having knocked out arguably the two best featherweights of all time in back-to-back fights, namely Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, there are few obvious challengers for Topuria to face at 145 pounds.
But a potential super-fight with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has been rumored. During a recent interview with Southern Cross Combat, Merab Dvalishvili shared the list of names his friend, 'El Matador', shared with him for his potential lightweight move.
He said this:
"Ilia is my good friend. I have so much respect for him, and he said he wants to go up and I respect and I support his decision. It's up to the UFC. They either give him Islam [Makhachev], I think they should give him Islam. But if not Islam, either [Charles] Oliveira or Dustin Poirier. Ilia either wants to fight [the] champion or super-fights, that's up to him."
Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below (2:50):