MMA fans are buzzing about two names right now: Umar Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili. Why? Because Dvalishvili won the bantamweight belt at UFC 306 by defeating Sean O’Malley via decision. On the other hand, Khabib’s cousin is undefeated and ready to challenge ‘The Machine’ for his first title defense. Umar saw the whole fight go down with a subtle smile on his face and even saw how Dvalishvili tried to avoid answering Joe Rogan’s question about his title defense.

Given the current scenario and Dvalishvili making a little ‘nepotism’ remark on Umar Nurmagomedov, most veterans are speculating what might happen if they clash. One of them, Cory Sandhagen, who went up against Umar on August 3, 2024 and lost, clearly stated his verdict. The 32-year-old said in his Fanatics View interview, “I think that Merab is still going to have some of the grappling edge. The problem with Merab’s grappling is that he just doesn’t really like, pin people to the mat. Never take their back or like get… like O’Malley was able to get up not the easiest in the world, but when he kind of really did go for “get up” he was able to get up.”

He further added, “I don’t know if Merab’s grappling; like that’s something that if I were him, I would work on.”  He knows that the stakes are high and says that even if ‘The Machine’ does fight Umar, it is not going to be an easy bout. It also seems like Sandhagen has a clear favorite and it’s surprisingly his opponent who defeated him at  UFC on ABC.

“Umar is just a way, way better striker and so ya, that’s going to be really hard for Merab. So I guess I would go for Umar just because his striking is so much different… And then Merab’s grappling isn’t necessarily tailored towards holding people down and Umar is a much better grappler than O’Malley…it’d be mostly standing and Umar getting off a lot of points and just out pointing Merab.”

Sandhagen already knows what his opponent is capable of because he lost in a 5 round bantamweight headliner at UFC Abu Dhabi. Even if he lost he still mentioned how the Dagestani fighter is an amazing striker and a pure class apart. ‘The Sandman’ gave credit where it was due and admitted that Khabib’s cousin is “real good,”  while speaking to Daniel Cormier during his in-cage interview.

He admitted, “He beat me. There’s nothing more I can say about it. Congrats to him, man. He’s a very, very good fighter. I’ll see him again. He’s going to fight for the belt next, and he’ll probably win.”  So this is not the first time that the fighter complimented his former opponent and assumed that he might win the belt. On top of that, Dana White also mentioned in the post-fight presser that Nurmagomedov was in a position to challenge the winner of UFC 306.

Now we have a winner and it is Merab Dvalishvili who took the belt from Sean O’Malley. Maybe Dvalishvili knows Umar’s prowess and thus was not too keen on taking him in the octagon. Umar, holding the No. 2 spot and and a member of ‘Team Khabib’ is ready to take ‘The Machine’. However, the air has changed recently!

Merab Dvalishvili swayed to accept Team Khabib and Umar Nurmagomedov’s challenge. 

‘The Machine’ had proclaimed, “Umar, he only beat Cory Sandhagen from top 15, only one guy he beat from top 15. And why does he deserve to fight for the belt?”. But it appears that the Georgian-American has now changed his ideas!

After defeating Sean O’Malley with a massive upset, the fighter hat declared that he would prefer to fight Deiveson Figueiredo and found him to be more dangerous with a better KO power. He also mentioned how the Dagestani combatant does not have a resume to deserve a title shot yet. Yet, Nurmagomedov was calm and he had only one answer: “I think I’m next, I hope they will not avoid and run.”

It seems like the pestering from all the fans and speculations from veterans worked because ‘The Machine’ has agreed to fight Umar! In a recent post on X, Dvalishvili stated, “Guys- I hear all of you! I am a company man. Whoever the UFC puts in front of me, I will fight as I always do, even if I don’t think they deserve the next shot. Let’s Go”.  Who do you think might win this title defense? Tell us in the comments below.