With Merab Dvalishvili‘s win over Sean O’Malley last week, the UFC now has a new bantamweight champion. And as always, the first question on everyone’s mind is- who is next? After all, ‘The Machine’s grappling was just too much for ‘Suga’ to handle, especially now that ‘Suga’ has revealed that he has a hip injury. This is why the sublime striker is out of contention for an immediate rematch.

And now, there is really one man who looks to have a shot at fighting Dvalishvili in the Georgian’s first title defense- #2 ranked Umar Nurmagomedov. And while Dvalishvili was famously icky about the prospect of the Dagestani being his next opponent, it seems he may have no choice.

Speaking to Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman on their podcast, Umar confirmed that he was indeed next in line for a 135-pound title shot. During the podcast, ‘Triple C’ explicitly asked the undefeated fighter: “Has that been promised to you by Dana [White] or Hunter [Campbell] that you’re next for the title?”

And Nurmagomedov, in equally explicit terms confirmed that that indeed was the case: “They said to me I’m next. But you know I don’t want to wait [for] these two guys until next year, you know.”

‘The Machine’, of course, has taken great offense to Umar being next in line since he believes (perhaps rightfully) that the Dagesgtani has been fast-tracked to a title shot, mainly because he is Khabib’s cousin. And there does seem to be some truth to these accusations. After all, Umar Nuramgomedov was given a fight against then #2 ranked Cory Sandhagen a few months ago.

But what really rubbed some, including Dvalishvili the wrong way was that Umar was ranked #10 going into the Sandhagen fight, and virtually, leapfrogged the entire top-10. But Umar doesn’t care about ‘The Machine’s feelings, or his opinion, as he told the two former champions on the same podcast episode.

Umar Nurmagomedov dismisses Merab Dvalishvili’s concerns

Merab Dvalishvili felt ‘disrespected’ prior to UFC 306 that Umar even had the gall to call him out. For the reasons we have mentioned above. This is perhaps why the new champion floated the name of #5 ranked former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo as his next opponent after beating O’Malley to become the champion last weekend. However, Nurmagomedov isn’t paying any attention to what the champ has said. His goal is clear- get the belt, regardless of who he has to fight or what they feel about him.

“I want to fight they [Dvalishvili and O’Malley] said ‘He don’t deserve [to fight for the title], he have to fight [more guys].’ Hey guys I don’t care about you. I just need the belt. You can keep belt and leave, I just will come and take, you know. I don’t need your name, [or] you. I don’t have anything personally with you, I just want this belt,” Umar added.

And since Umar has confirmed to Usman and Cejudo that he is indeed next for ‘The Machine,’ it seems the champ has read the writing on the wall (or maybe he has been told something by the UFC brass). Either way, the Georgian has, if somewhat reluctantly, promised fans in a tweet that he would indeed fight whoever the UFC puts in front of him, even if he doesn’t think “they deserve the next shot.” 

Of course, this is the UFC and nothing is confirmed until it’s confirmed and there may be a change of plans. But at the moment, for all intents and purposes, Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nuramgomedov for the bantamweight title is next. What are your thoughts on Umar’s claims? Do you think he deserves to fight for the title next?