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Merab Dvalishvili recently offered his thoughts on the fight booking between Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong. Nurmagomedov appeared to have locked in the No. 1 bantamweight contender spot following his victory over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi in August, and after the win, he has been adamantly seeking a title shot.
However, in a surprising twist, the undefeated Dagestani has now been slated to face Yadong in the main event of UFC Tampa on Dec. 14. This development follows weeks of Nurmagomedov persistently pursuing a title fight against champion Dvalishvili in January.
During a recent interview with ProsPick MMA, 'The Machine' expressed that the matchup between Nurmagomedov and Yadong is intriguing and could potentially determine the next challenger for his title. However, he also noted that other fights could similarly influence who emerges as the next contender:
"It's a very interesting fight and good for both of them... Umar wanted to fight in December, and he kept trash-talking on the internet; he was calling me in December and January. Bro, I just won the title fight I guess you don't want to wait.
"Now we will see who's going to fight for the belt: either the winner of this fight, or maybe the winner of [Deiveson] Figueiredo and [Petr] Yan, or maybe a rematch against [Sean] O'Malley."
Dvalishvili, who claimed the bantamweight title by defeating former champion O'Malley at UFC 306 last month, also expressed his intention to make his first title defense in March:
"Usually, every champion takes six months, and then I'm ready to fight every six months. Maybe next time, for sure, I need six months, and after the first defense, maybe I will keep it shorter."
Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below (0:26):
Merab Dvalishvili addresses accusations of ducking Umar Nurmagomedov and asserts he doesn't handpick opponents
Umar Nurmagomedov has consistently accused Merab Dvalishvili of attempting to avoid a matchup with him in favor of a rematch against Sean O'Malley.
During the same interview with ProPick MMA, 'The Machine' emphasized that he has never shied away from facing Nurmagomedov. He stated that he doesn’t choose his opponents and has fought anyone the UFC has put in front of him:
"I never pick my opponent, and I never have a chance to choose who I'm going to fight. You know, whoever the UFC offers, I always fight. I'll tell you even more: I always wanted to fight in New York, but they never gave me a chance to fight in New York. I never make decisions; the UFC makes decisions, and whoever they give me for my next opponent, I will fight." [3:26]
