Umar
Nurmagomedov has fired back at Merab
Dvalishvili after the “The Machine” accused him of getting
privileges in the
UFC because of his connection to Khabib
Nurmagomedov.
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Nurmagomedov climbed eight spots to No.2 in the UFC’s bantamweight
rankings with an impressive unanimous decision win over top
contender Cory
Sandhagen at
UFC on ABC 7 last weekend. Nurmagomedov is expected to be fight
for the title next against the winner of Sean
O’Malley-Dvalishvili, which headlines UFC
306 on Sept. 14.
However, Dvalishvili isn’t excited about a potential clash against
Umar Nurmagomedov, as he believes the Dagestani has been fast
tracked on his way to title contention. Dvalishvili claims
Nurmagomedov hasn’t paid his dues as much as other elite contenders
and has been pushed because of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is his
cousin.
“He has a push because we all know why,” Dvalishvili recently told
heavywgt MMA. “Because he’s Khabib’s cousin.
He’s a good fighter. I have all the respect to him. If Aljamain
Sterling earned to get here, if I earned to get here, if Cory
Sandhagen earned to get here…Sean O’Malley get push and Umar get
push. It’s a little bit heartbroken when you see sometimes when you
working hard. I wasn’t sure if I was getting a title fight until
two weeks ago… I am not excited for this fight because I know he
get here easy. He is a good fighter, but he get pushed. It’s like
cheating a little bit to get here. I have 12 fights in the UFC. I
beat like seven or eight ranked fighters.”
Umar Nurmagomedov in response noted that others have received title
shots with as long a winning streak as his or even less. The
undefeated Dagestani contender further reminded Dvalishvili of his
reluctance to fight teammate Sterling during his title reign.
“Yan fought for [the] title after [six wins]. [O’Malley] after
[four wins]. Merab could [have fought] for [the] title with Aljo
last year,” he wrote on X. “You have to stop crying. [You’re] just
scared that I will take everything from you.”
Yan fought for title after 6 win
Omaley after 4 win
Merab could fight for title with Aljo last year.
You have to Stop crying
You just scared that I will take everything from you.— Umar Nurmagomedov (@UNmgdv)
August 6, 2024
Meanwhile, Khabib Nurmagomedov has said that he wants Dvalishvili to defeat O’Malley so that
his cousin can fight their Georgian neighbor for the title.