Merab Dvalishvili just won his bantamweight title by defeating Sean O’Malley but his woes are just starting. Now there are speculations that he is dodging his first title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov. The thing is, the Dagestani wants to fight before Ramadan which is in March but the Georgian has no intention to do so. So now Umar has resorted to calling the champ out as he did in a new X post.

The Dagestani decided to provoke the Georgian and uploaded the post on social media. The upload had his video from training and he wrote a caption that directly addressed Dvalishvili. He said, “Even if the whole world says in one voice, ‘Merab will beat Umar’, it won’t give you courage to face me in January.”

Why did Umar provoke Dvalishvili about having ‘courage’ to face him in January? See the thing is, firstly, the Georgian had announced that he did not want to match up against the Russian bantamweight who has an undefeated record. The reason, according to him, was that Umar was not qualified to get the title shot. ‘The Machine’ was particularly mum when the #2 ranked combatant’s name was brought up during the post-fight presser at Noche UFC. Instead, the Georgian said he favored taking up former flyweight champion Dieveson Figueiredo for his maiden title defense.

Secondly, remember how Dvalishvili held a press conference on September 30?  He answered several questions about the next bout and said that nothing was revealed by UFC yet but he knew who his next opponent might be. Dvalishvili expressed that his title defense would presumably be against Umar Nurmagomedov in February or March 2025. However, that is also the time when the holy month of Ramadan begins. So Nurmagomedov might not have wanted to fight during that time frame. Now if Dvalishvili sits out till April or March end then someone else might get the title shot over Umar. Given the dicey situation at hand right now, who might fight against Dvalishvili for his title defense if Umar is unavailable?

What are the options that Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov have right now?

After winning the bantamweight title at UFC Noche, Dvalishvili touched down in his hometown of Tbilisi, Georgia for a homecoming like no other. Weeks after the title win the Georgian’s victory has not stopped him from planning his next action. ‘The Machine’ decided to call out Sean O’Malley to an immediate rematch at UFC 309 since ‘Suga’ had pushed him before. The latter posted on X, “Getting surgery Oct 3rd. Fought you with one hip and still beat you. Round 1,3,5. I’m the champ. Fight Umar,” and took the chance to remind Dvalishvili about the challenge ahead of him. However, the new champ still prefers other fights over Umar, while the latter has his own plans in place as well.

According to his manager Ali Abdelaziz, Umar who is also known as “Young Eagle” is likely to be the next contender for Dvalishvili’s title defence. On top of that, the manager of Dominance MMA also revealed on Submission Radio how O’Malley would be at the top of their priorities if he’s successful against Dvalishvili.

The Egyptian executive explained, “Sean O’Malley just had a surgery. The plan was Umar beat Merab and after that Umar gives Sean O’Malley a title shot coming off a loss because I believe Sean O’Malley deserves it. He built the division, he made everybody money, why not give the guy love for making the 135 (division) exciting as it is today?” Since ‘Suga’ has returned to the role of contender, this possibility does not seem too far-fetched.

Does this mean Umar accepted his fate of this matchup against Dvalishvili not coming to fruition any time soon? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.