Merab Dvalishvili won’t entertain a rematch with Umar Nurmagomedov just yet.
The UFC Bantamweight Champion faced one of his toughest challenges to date in the form of an undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January.
Cousin to the legendary lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, the bantamweight Nurmagomedov took the first two rounds against Dvalishvili in their highly-anticipated matchup.
Dvalishvili overcame a strong start to win the championship rounds against Nurmagomedov and retained his title in a closely-contested decision.
Nurmagomedov had a relatively quick run to the title, receiving a title shot off of one ranked win.
Coming off his first pro loss, Nurmagomedov is gunning for a rematch with the Georgian champion. Dvalishvili says Nurmagomedov has some work to do before that happens.
Merab Dvalishvili says Umar Nurmagomedov might have to win three more times for title shot
After submitting Sean O’Malley at UFC 316, Dvalishvili has locked on to #4-ranked contender Cory Sandhagen as his next title challenger.
On Friday, Dvalishvili was asked about a potential rematch with Nurmagomedov in the future.
“Umar has to fight one more,” Dvalishvili said at a UFC Baku Q&A (via Red Corner MMA).
“Or maybe two more…
“Maybe three more,” the champion added.
“We’ll see.”
“Whenever UFC will give him a title fight, I’m here,” Dvalishvili said.
Dana White name-dropped Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 316
While he has to work his way back to a title fight, UFC CEO Dana White sees Nurmagomedov as an ‘interesting’ matchup for Dvalishvili, who very well could be the greatest bantamweight in UFC history.
The champ Dvalishvili is currently riding a 13-fight win streak with six of those victories coming over former world champions.
“He’s there,” White said of Dvalishvili being the bantamweight GOAT.
“He will keep racking him up, I’m sure.
“Umar rematch is interesting [for Dvalishvili],” White said.
“It makes your legacy even better when you ran through everybody twice.”