Merab Dvalishvili is "sh*tting himself terrified" of Umar Nurmagomedov, says Sean O'Malley
Merab Dvalishvili's opponent for his first bantamweight title defense has not yet been announced by the UFC, although many believe it will be Umar Nurmagomedov. However, Sean O'Malley recently claimed that Dvalishvili is afraid to face Nurmagomedov since the reigning champion has repeatedly ruled out facing the undefeated contender.
During a recent episode of his podcast on his YouTube channel, O'Malley discussed the bantamweight division landscape with his coach Tim Welch. While expressing his desire for a rematch with Dvalishvili in April, 'Suga' asserted that the Georgian fighter doesn't want to face Nurmagomedov, saying:
''Umar [Nurmagomedov] wants to fight Merab [Dvalishvili] in January, Petr [Yan] wants to fight Merab in March. I want to fight Merab in April. Merab is absolutely s***ing himself terrified of Umar, he doesn’t want to fight Umar. Now he wants to fight Petr, he wants to fight me… Petr got 50-45’d to Merab!”
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (3:15):
Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov have been going at each other for a while now on social media. Following his title win against O'Malley at Noche UFC 306, 'The Machine' dismissed facing the unbeaten Dagestani for his first title defense, claiming that the former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo was more deserving of the title shot.
The 'Young Eagle' doesn't want their fight to happen during Ramadan, hence Nuramgomedov chastised Dvalishvili when the latter revealed the possible bout's date, saying it might happen in February or March of next year. As a result, the 28-year-old requested that the promotion schedule a fight with any other contender if Dvalishvili refused to fight him.
Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili rekindled their social media feud when the former posted a Georgian proverb on X, which infuriated the 33-year-old, who then bashed Nurmagomedov and his manager Ali Abdelaziz. 'Young Eagle' replied by asking Dvalishvili to avoid involving his nation and confronting him inside the octagon, writing:
''Do not drag your country or people into a personal conflict with me. When you meet me in person, do not turn away"
Merab Dvalishvili wants to face Petr Yan at UFC 313
Petr Yan has put himself back in the title picture with a unanimous decision win against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau this past weekend and went on to call out Merab Dvalishvili for a rematch during his octagon interview.
Dvalishvili then released a video on Instagram accepting Yan's callout, stating that his next fight would take place in March:
“LFG @petr_yan – March 8th #UFC313 T Mobile, Las Vegas.”
Check out the post below: