UFC’s bantamweight division today is dramatically different from what it was last week. After all, not only did Merab Dvalishvili defeat Sean O’Malley but embarrassed him in their UFC 306 clash to become the new 135-pound king. And it is precisely because of ‘Suga’s lackluster performance (and a hip injury), that the former champ has virtually no prospects of getting an immediate rematch.

This, of course, means that the bantamweight title picture is open. Not wide open, mind you, since there are only two real contenders for ‘The Machine’s first title defense: former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo and more realistically, #2 ranked undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.

In fact, Umar (who is Khabib’s cousin), is the clear favorite for the new champ’s next opponent. At least according to most fans, analysts, and even UFC insiders. But Dvalishvili doesn’t think so. In fact, he finds Umar calling for a fight with him ‘disrespectful’. Why? Because the Georgian champ doesn’t think Umar deserves to be where he is in the division and was pushed by the UFC because he is Khabib‘s cousin.

But Umar is undeterred. The #2 ranked 135-pounder joined Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman on their ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast, and was asked by ‘Triple C’: “Why does he [Dvalishvili] say that you’ve been disrespectful?”

To which the undefeated Dagestani explained it was precisely his wish to fight the champ that had made him so mad. However, he is determined to be ‘disrespectful’ towards ‘The Machine’ if that is what he needs to do to get a title shot.

“Because I want to fight with him. I don’t know what for him [is] respect? If I will say to him, ‘Hey I don’t want to fight with Merab, I respect him, leave him alone, he have to be champion until he wants [to] retire,’ [maybe] it’s respect for him? If yes, sorry, I will disrespect you,” he said, warning Dvalishvili of what he can expect in the coming days.

But despite this purported disrespect, Dvalishvili is ready and willing to fight the undefeated Dagestani.

Merab Dvalishvili takes U-turn on facing Umar Nurmagomedov next

It seems that Merab Dvalishvili has finally read the writing on the wall. After all, the new bantamweight champ has made a massive u-turn and is now willing (even if reluctantly) to fight Umar Nurmagomedov as his very first 135-pound title defense! “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,” Dvalishvili tweeted, although he glibly omitted Umar’s name.

And their bout looks, at least on paper, like a great matchup capable of giving the fans what they want. It will undoubtedly be a huge test for Umar Nurmagomedov, whose wrestling will almost definitely be tested against the guy who has proven he is the best grappler in the entire division and up there with Islam Makhachev for the best in the entire promotion.

But, it will also be a test for Merab and his striking. While ‘The Machine’ has proven he can handle himself on the ground in the ‘Suga’ fight, whose striking is second to none, Umar has the added bonus of having an excellent and dynamic ability for striking to go with his own world-class ground game.

In fact, even Joe Rogan, on his podcast, couldn’t help but salivate at the prospect of the Dvalishvili-Nurmagomedov clash, saying it might be the best quality fight in all of MMA at the moment, purely from a sporting point of view. What are your predictions for a clash between the two titans?