Umar
Nurmagomedov doesn’t think Merab
Dvalishvili has any reason to hate him.
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Nurmagomedov challenges Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in
the co-main event at UFC 311
on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Dvalishvili was
initially adamant about not fighting Nurmagomedov in his very first
title defense. According to “The Machine,” the undefated
Nurmagomedov is undeserving of a title shot despite six
UFC wins under his belt. Dvalishvili accuses Nurmagomedov of
being favored by the UFC due to the legacy of his family name.
Dvalishvili ultimately accepted the fight, citing intolerable
insults from Nurmagomedov. The two also went off on the same topic
during a promotional presser last month. However, it remains
slightly unclear what insults Dvalishvili is referring to, as
Nurmagomedov hasn’t seemed to cross any boundaries in terms of
trash talking. Dvalishvili has vowed to slap Nurmagomedov if he doesn’t
receive an apology after their fight. Nurmagomedov believes he has
no reason to apologize to Dvalishvili and hopes the Georgian can
back his words with action.
“I don’t see about what I have to say sorry,” Nurmagomedov recently
told Shakiel Mahjouri. “For what?… Nobody’s
seen [me saying anything disrespectful]. He created this because he
needs some reason to hate me. And maybe he needs reason to bring
his followers, his fans to support him… We’re gonna see how he
gonna [slap me]. You honor your words before you say it, after that
your words honor you.”
Dvalishvili is riding a 13-fight winning streak topped off by a
dominant title win over Sean O’Malley at UFC
306 this past September. Dvalishvili also had a long road to
the title, though his unwillingness to fight teammate Aljamain
Sterling was also partly responsible for the delay.