Merab Dvalishvili claims ‘it is not very respectful’ to book Umar Nurmagomedov vs Cory Sandhagen bout

The UFC’s bantamweight division is stacked with some of the best fighters in the world like Sean O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvili, and Umar Nurmagomedov among others. Post O’Malley’s title defense at UFC 299, fights are brewing between contenders in the division.

Merab Dvalishvili is the number one contender in the division and the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov has his sights set on Cory Sandhagen, the number 3 bantamweight. The Georgian had some words for the Russian fighter’s intention to fight the American bantamweight.

Merab Dvalishvili believes Umar Nurmagomedov does not deserve Cory Sandhagen bout

Merab Dvalishvili, in his recent interview with the Schmo, went off at Umar Nurmagomedov’s callout of Cory Sandhagen, particularly as Nurmagomedov is coming off a victory over a UFC debutant. “Umar, he doesn’t fight anybody from the top 15; he doesn’t fight anybody from the top 5,” said Dvalishvili as he urged Nurmagomedov to fight someone like Mario Bautista.

“Umar is fighting these nobody guys, and yeah, like, I don’t know how it’s like this,” Dvalishvili went on to criticize the Russian’s resume. The Georgian stated that Nurmagomedov does not deserve to fight a 3rd ranked contender after defeating Bekzat Almakhan, a UFC debutant. Dvalishvili also showed skepticism against the record of Nurmagomedov’s past opponents in the UFC.

Dvalishvili currently has the longest winning streak in the division and one of the reasons for it is due to him fighting ranked opponents step by step. As such, he has now defeated three former champions in his previous three fights.

Nurmagomedov has only fought 5 times in the UFC and none of those opponents were ranked in the division. This is the reason why Dvalishvili pointed out his criticism towards the Russian fighter and also his future bouts.

Umar Nurmagomedov vs Cory Sandhagen bout confirmed?

Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen were scheduled to headline UFC Nashville, but Nurmagomedov pulled out due to a shoulder injury and was replaced by Rob Font. Nurmagomedov came back from injury and faced debutant Bekzat Almakhan, winning via unanimous decision despite an early scare which even drew praise from Islam Makhachev.

Nurmagomedov called for a rebooking of his fight with Sandhagen post-victory over Almakhan.

Moreover, he recently tweeted, “August 3 Me against Peter or me against Cory”, post Petr Yan’s victory over Song Yadong in the main card opener of UFC 299 where Sean O’Malley defended his bantamweight title and called out Ilia Topuria.

“Come on, Umar. International Fight Week against me, brother,” Sandhagen responded to the callout of Nurmagomedov to which the Russian replied, “Just send me location Let’s go,” which is the iconic phrase popularized by his cousin, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Since both fighters have agreed to fight, the UFC will likely announce the bout soon. Sandhagen and Nurmagomedov are interested in fighting in August but the UFC is making its debut in Saudi Arabia in June and there is a chance the bout will be in Riyadh.

Do you agree with Merab Dvalishvili’s assessment of Umar Nurmagomedov?