Merab Dvalishvili broke down to tears when he heard Bruce Buffer announcing, “And new,” in the aftermath of UFC 306 as he clinched the bantamweight title for the first time in his career. At first, the Georgian was looking to take considerable time off from the sport, but ultimately decided otherwise and ended up accepting the fight against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. The 135lbs kingpin recently opened up on the real reason why he chose to make his first title defense in January.

“I was gonna take my five months, six months to enjoy my time,” Dvalishvili told Ariel Helwani, claiming that he wanted to enjoy his birthday on 10th January with his championship belt back home in Georgia, However, he decided to be a “company man” for Dana White, who wanted Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev to fight on the same card. 

“UFC was asking me if I was interested in January. So, basically, UFC needed me in January because they needed Umar to fight with Islam. I step up. I am a company man and I go office, and yes, I said,” Merab Dvalishvili added. Also, The Georgian native seemed irritated about how things have been since he started his reign as the division king.

Claiming to have felt disrespected as a champion, Dvalishvili further stated, “Since I’ve become champion there’s been a lot of drama and a lot of toxic talk. I don’t appreciate that, and I don’t deserve this.” Keeping that in mind, ‘The Machine’ also sent a message to Umar Nurmagomedov, who, according to Dvalishvili, has disrespected him as well.

Merab Dvalishvili wants Umar Nurmagomedov to show some respect

Umar Nurmagomedov will be summing up five years of association with Dana White’s promotion in January next year, having competed in a total of six fights under the UFC banner. Merab Dvalishvili, on the other hand, had to grind considerably more than the Dagestani who got his shot at the title after racking up a 10-fight winning streak, which started way back in 2018.

In that regard, Merab Dvalishvili wants Nurmagomedov to show him some respect for the fact that he’s been fighting some of the best fighters in the division in his climb to the throne of the bantamweight division.

“All I ask is respect, you know? I understand you wanna fight for the belt even if not fighting top contenders,” Dvalishvili further stated. “But just be humble and be respectful for the guys who’ve been here and were fighting the best of the best.”

Umar Nurmagomedov has repeatedly claimed that he never meant any disrespect to the champion but only pointed out that Merab Dvalishvili had been snubbing him in every conversation. Now, it remains to be seen how many more arguments take place between these two fighters, but in the meantime, let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below.