UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has promised that he will ‘simply smash’ Umar Nurmagomedov if the UFC decides he is next. As everybody and their grandma knows Merab Dvalishvili does not think #2 ranked Umar Nurmagomedov deserves to fight him for the title.

But since Umar seems to be his next opponent anyway, he has come around to the idea in recent days. And ‘The Machine’ took to Twitter recently to promise fans he will make an example of Merab if he is next. Umar has taken great umbrage to Merab using the word ‘if’, pointing out in his reply that he is quite clearly next. However, it must be said that the Dagestani seemed quite defensive, dedicating most of the tweet defending against criticisms commonly levied at him.

“There is no if. There is only one contender and that is me. you became champion only because you did not accept a fight with me twice before. for the same reason there are no fighters from the top 10 in my list of fights, you and those like you did not accept a fight with me,” Umar tweeted.

Umar could also have responded in kind to Dvalishvili and told the champ what he would do to him in a fight. Instead, the #2 ranked fighter had almost no answer to the Georgian’s threats and just concentrated on justifying why he thinks he deserves to be here. But why is the undefeated Dagestani so touchy about it?

Why did Umar Nurmagomedov feel the need to defend himself so profusely?

Merab Dvalishvili isn’t holding back when he questions Umar Nurmagomedov’s rise to contention. According to Dvalishvili, Umar has only fought one top-10 opponent in the bantamweight division and owes his quick jump to the spotlight largely to being Khabib’s cousin—a factor that made him an easy sell for the UFC. It’s true that being Khabib’s cousin might have helped, but Umar is also undefeated and recently took down #2-ranked Cory Sandhagen.

However, the UFC did let Abubakar Nurmagomedov, another cousin, go earlier this year—so the Nurmagomedov surname alone isn’t a golden ticket. This criticism seems to have gotten under Umar’s skin, prompting him to respond to Merab’s accusations.

So, what do you think—does Umar truly deserve his shot, or is this all about marketability? Let us know your thoughts!