Khabib Nurmagomedov is confident about his cousin Umar Nurmagomedov’s upcoming title fight against Merab Dvalishvili.
Umar will challenge Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in the co-main event of UFC 311 on January 18th at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. Dvalishvili was initially reluctant to fight Umar, believing him unworthy of a shot at the title.
Although Umar apparently didn’t say anything inflammatory about the bantamweight champion, Dvalishvili claims he felt disrespected by the Dagestani. When announcing the UFC 311 fight, Dana White revealed that Dvalishvili agreed to the fight because he felt disrespected by his opponent. “The Machine” continues to express respect for Umar’s teammates leading up to UFC 311, but that hasn’t stopped him from taking shots at his upcoming opponent.
Khabib believes that Dvalishvili initially pretended to be a nice guy, but did not handle his championship status well. Dvalishvili repeatedly accused Umar of being given a money bid because of his relationship with Khabib. However, The Eagle cites Umar’s impeccable record to justify his cousin’s legitimate claim to the title. Khabib is confident that on fight night Umar will show the world why Dvalishvili looked “nervous” before the match.
“I think he [Merab] At the beginning of his career, he was on good behavior. He can’t deal with this when he becomes champion. Because it changes your life,” Khabib said at a recent press conference (via Red Corner MMA). “There are two lives before the champion and after the champion. You have to deal with this. About Umar [getting] Gift – I think Umar is worth it. I don’t know why Merab is nervous…Umar is here not because he is my cousin. He’s here because he’s 18-0, 6-0 in the UFC. Umar wants to create his own legacy. On January 18th, he will show why Merab is nervous. ”
Dvalishvili won the title with a dominant unanimous decision win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in September of this year, extending his winning streak to 11. Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov’s undefeated record includes six UFC wins, culminating with a high-level victory over Cory Sandhagen. at UFC Saudi Arabia in August of this year.
