Merab Dvalishvili, dealing with a lingering injury, reluctantly agreed to face Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 despite a contentious buildup and feeling disrespected by Nurmagomedov’s actions, aiming to put their rivalry behind him.
Merab Dvalishvili had a couple reasons for wanting to delay his first title defense until March. A nagging injury was at the top of that list.
After defeating Sean O’Malley to become UFC champion in September, the Georgian bantamweight set his sights on 2025. All signs pointed to a showdown with Umar Nurmagomedov. But, alas, Nurmagomedov wanted to fight sooner. Why? He needed to prepare for Ramadan, which runs from Feb. 28 through Mar. 29, requiring him to fast daily from dawn to sunset.
Ultimately, Dvalishvili agreed to face Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 on Saturday. Yet, he knows it’s not happening under ideal circumstances.
“I wanted to enjoy it,” Dvalishvili shared during UFC 311 media day on Wednesday. “I was in Vegas because [Aljamain Sterling] was fighting Movsar Evloev and training. I was always dealing with some injuries.”
“But once I hear the UFC needs me, I stepped up,” he continued. “Dana [White] said yes. I go to the office and I said OK, I will step up. I’m a company man. Let’s do it.”
Dvalishvili kept mum about the nature of his injury but promised details post-fight on Saturday.
He assures the injury won’t affect his performance but admits training was tough at times due to it.
“Not [the] fight,” he clarified. “It was affecting my training. I will post it after the fight but training was difficult because of this injury. But I’m good, I’m ready now. It’s all good.”
As for the fight itself? Dvalishvili is eager to move past Nurmagomedov after a heated buildup led to an intense rivalry.
Repeatedly, Dvalishvili has argued that Nurmagomedov didn’t deserve the title shot, having only one win over a top-10 ranked fighter and a 6-0 record in the UFC.
In contrast, Dvalishvili had to embark on an unprecedented 10-fight win streak, including victories over three former UFC champions, before earning his opportunity.
Adding fuel to the fire, Dvalishvili feels Nurmagomedov has been disingenuous in his pre-fight conduct, constantly pointing out how much the Dagestani has disrespected him.
“Every time I see him, I give him my respect,” Dvalishvili said. “I was cool with him. This is not social media or a video game; we’re real people.”
But then came disrespect from Umar on Twitter. “I asked him ‘why you disrespect me?’ [He said] ‘because I wanted to.’”
“That’s why I was so mad,” Dvalishvili confessed. “That’s why I wanted to kill this guy because I’m a real guy.”
Despite his anger towards Nurmagomedov leading up to the fight, Dvalishvili insists he doesn’t harbor bitter hatred for his opponent nor does he need it as motivation.
He won’t back down from criticizing Nurmagomedov but isn’t relying on animosity to stay ready for this matchup.
“I don’t need to hate nobody,” Dvalishvili stated. “You guys know I was kissing Sean O’Malley in the octagon.”
“But Umar disrespected me,” he added. “He called me a fake champion and mentioned my country disrespectfully.”
“This is not right,” Dvalishvili concluded with conviction.