Merab Dvalishvili had a couple of reasons that he wanted to delay his first title defense until March but a lingering injury topped that list.
After defeating Sean O’Malley to become UFC champion this past September, the Georgian born bantamweight immediately turned his focus to 2025 with all signs pointing towards a showdown with Umar Nurmagomedov. Unfortunately Nurmagomedov wanted to fight sooner than later as he prepares to observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which goes from Feb. 28 through Mar. 29 where he’s required to fast from dawn to sunset everyday.
In the end, Dvalishvili eventually agreed to face Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 on Saturday but he knows it’s not happening under ideal circumstances.
“I wanted to enjoy it and I was in Vegas because [Aljamain Sterling] was fighting Movsar Evloev and training and I was always dealing with some injuries,” Dvalishvili revealed during UFC 311 media day on Wednesday.
“But once I hear the UFC needs me, I stepped up and Dana [White] said yes. I go to the office and I said OK, I will step up. I’m a company man. Let’s do it.”
Dvalishvili didn’t want to disclose the nature of the injury that was plaguing him but he promised to offer details after his fight on Saturday.
While he promises that the injury won’t affect his performance, Dvalishvili admits he did struggle at times through his training camp to get ready for Nurmagomedov.
“Not [the] fight. It was affecting my training,” Dvalishvili said. “I will post it after the fight but training was difficult because of this injury. But I’m good, I’m ready now. It’s all good.”
When it comes to the fight, Dvalishvili is anxious to finally put Nurmagomedov behind him after a contentious buildup has led to an unexpectedly intense rivalry.
Time and time again, Dvalishvili has stated that he didn’t believe Nurmagomedov deserved the title shot with only a single win over a fighter ranked in the top 10 in the world, not to mention a resume in the UFC that only sits at 6-0 overall.
Meanwhile, Dvalishvili had to go on an unprecedented 10 fight win streak including victories over three former UFC champions before he was granted that same opportunity.
Add to that, Dvalishvili feels like Nurmagomedov has been disingenuous with the way he’s presented himself in the leadup to the fight, which is why he’s constantly touting how the 29-year-old Dagestani has disrespected him so much.
“Every time I see him, I give him my respect,” Dvalishvili said. “I was cool with him. I know him as a person. This is not social media. This is not a video game something where you’re talking trash. We are real people. To get disrespected by Umar, I was mad and when I met him in person I asked him ‘why you disrespect me on Twitter?’ [He said] ‘because I wanted to, what are you going to do about it?’ Then you guys seen 30 minutes later he said ‘I never disrespected you, I never disrespected your country.’
“That’s why I was so mad. That’s why I wanted to kill this guy because I’m a real guy. I’m not going to ignore this.”
As angry as Nurmagomedov has made him prior to the fight, Dvalishvili promises that he’s not holding onto some kind of bitter hatred for his opponent nor does he need that as motivation to win.
Dvalishvili won’t back down from his criticism aimed at Nurmagomedov but he’s not seething with animosity to help him stay ready for this matchup.
“I don’t need to hate nobody,” Dvalishvili said. “You guys know I was kissing Sean O’Malley. I had so much fun inside the octagon. I was smiling there. I need to hate nobody. I don’t hate nobody.
“But it was things that Umar disrespected me. He called me a fake champion. I’m not a fake champion. He brought up something disrespectful expression, he said it’s a Georgian expression, it’s not a Georgian expression. He mentioned my country and then he’s still continuing to disrespect me. This is not right.”
