Dana White reveals wild story on how Merab Dvalishvili vs Umar Nurmagomedov fight got booked
Umar Nurmagomedov was fast asleep when the call finally came. It was his boss, Dana White, offering him a shot at the UFC bantamweight title, a prize he has been craving for months. Umar Nurmagomedov was offered a shot at the UFC bantamweight title late on Tuesday night His response was a resounding ‘hell yes’, and the date was soon set. Nurmagomedov, cousin of MMA great Khabib and an undefeated 18-0 prospect, will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the championship in the co-main event of UFC 311 in January. While his record is shaping up, he only has one ranked UFC win to his name, which came over Cory Sandhagen at 135lbs back in August. Nurmagomedov entered that matchup as the No. 10 fighter in the official bantamweight rankings, while his opponent was at No. 2. But after 25 minutes of tough action, the Russian’s hand was raised in victory. He won by unanimous decision and took over second spot in the rankings. That win made him the likely next challenger for the title, which Dvalishvili then took from Sean O’Malley in September. However some, including the new champion, thought Nurmagomedov would need to do more before being booked in a title fight. Dvalishvili even called for a title defence against former champion Petr Yan (now ranked third) after he defeated Deiveson Figueiredo. Accusations that he was ‘ducking’ Nurmagomedov soon followed, and played a big part in making the fight happen, according to White. Dvalishvili, keen to disprove suggestion that he is avoiding Nurmagomedov, demanded a fight with the unbeaten contender by storming into White’s office this week. Dvalishvili secured the title in September and has questioned Umar’s credentialsGetty “Merab came into the office late last night, told us that he is tired of listening to Umar disrespect him and wanted to make this fight happen as soon as possible,” the UFC president said on Wednesday. “We called Umar, he was sleeping in Dagestan. He said, ‘hell yes, anywhere and anytime.”’ Dvalishvili is on an 11-fight win streak heading into the contest, which will take place at the Intuit Dome in California on January 18. Having secured four victories over former champions during that run, he has previously questioned the credentials of his challenger, leading to bad blood between the pair. “He has a push because we all know why,” Dvalishvili said ahead of Nurmagomedov’s big win against Sandhagen. “He’s Khabib’s cousin. He’s a good fighter. I have all the respect to him.” Dvalishvili demanded a match with Umar after storming into White’s office after questioning his rival’s UFC ‘push’Getty “It leaves me heartbroken when you see sometimes when you work hard… (Nurmagomedov) is a good fighter, but he got pushed. “It’s like cheating a little bit to get here. I have 12 fights in the UFC. I beat like seven or eight ranked fighters.” Dvalishvili vs Nurmagomedov will serve as the co-main event of a stacked UFC 311 card, which is headlined by Islam Makhachev vs Arman Tsarukyan for the lightweight title. That fight is a rematch of their 2019 contest, which Makhachev won on points.
Umar Nurmagomedov was fast asleep when the call finally came.
It was his boss, Dana White, offering him a shot at the UFC bantamweight title, a prize he has been craving for months.
His response was a resounding ‘hell yes’, and the date was soon set.
Nurmagomedov, cousin of MMA great Khabib and an undefeated 18-0 prospect, will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the championship in the co-main event of UFC 311 in January.
While his record is shaping up, he only has one ranked UFC win to his name, which came over Cory Sandhagen at 135lbs back in August.
Nurmagomedov entered that matchup as the No. 10 fighter in the official bantamweight rankings, while his opponent was at No. 2.
But after 25 minutes of tough action, the Russian’s hand was raised in victory. He won by unanimous decision and took over second spot in the rankings.
That win made him the likely next challenger for the title, which Dvalishvili then took from Sean O’Malley in September.
However some, including the new champion, thought Nurmagomedov would need to do more before being booked in a title fight.
Dvalishvili even called for a title defence against former champion Petr Yan (now ranked third) after he defeated Deiveson Figueiredo.
Accusations that he was ‘ducking’ Nurmagomedov soon followed, and played a big part in making the fight happen, according to White.
Dvalishvili, keen to disprove suggestion that he is avoiding Nurmagomedov, demanded a fight with the unbeaten contender by storming into White’s office this week.
“Merab came into the office late last night, told us that he is tired of listening to Umar disrespect him and wanted to make this fight happen as soon as possible,” the UFC president said on Wednesday.
“We called Umar, he was sleeping in Dagestan. He said, ‘hell yes, anywhere and anytime.”’
Dvalishvili is on an 11-fight win streak heading into the contest, which will take place at the Intuit Dome in California on January 18.
Having secured four victories over former champions during that run, he has previously questioned the credentials of his challenger, leading to bad blood between the pair.
“He has a push because we all know why,” Dvalishvili said ahead of Nurmagomedov’s big win against Sandhagen.
“He’s Khabib’s cousin. He’s a good fighter. I have all the respect to him.”
“It leaves me heartbroken when you see sometimes when you work hard… (Nurmagomedov) is a good fighter, but he got pushed.
“It’s like cheating a little bit to get here. I have 12 fights in the UFC. I beat like seven or eight ranked fighters.”
Dvalishvili vs Nurmagomedov will serve as the co-main event of a stacked UFC 311 card, which is headlined by Islam Makhachev vs Arman Tsarukyan for the lightweight title.
That fight is a rematch of their 2019 contest, which Makhachev won on points.
