The back and forth between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov is getting intense with each passing day. Recently, Nurmagomedov lashed out at ‘The Machine’ questioning his love for his home country, Georgia. He pointed out that despite being a Georgian, Dvalishvili lives and trains in the United States. Such a comment seemingly made the UFC bantamweight champion angry.
And guess what? He immediately gave a fitting reply to Nurmagomedov, throwing shade at his blessed surroundings. Dvalishvili stated that he works hard while staying in the USA and also pays taxes. However, continuing with his reply, ‘The Machine’ pointed out how privileged he was to be training free of cost at Khabib Nurmagomedov’s gym.
“Umar, he doesn’t give a s**t. He comes here, stays for free at his manager’s house and then goes to Dagestan, training is free [at] his cousin’s gym. Unfortunately I don’t have a cousin who has a big gym like Khabib has in Dagestan. I love training here in the U.S. and getting better. There are more opportunities here,” Dvalishvili stated.
🗣️ “Unfortunately I don’t have a cousin that has a big gym in Dagestan.”
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) January 17, 2025
Merab Dvalishvili responds to Umar Nurmagomedov criticising him for training in America and not Georgia
🎥 #UFC311 official weigh-in show pic.twitter.com/jB2okYWW4z
Going into the fight, both the fighters will be looking to draw first blood. And while Umar Nurmagomedov has already stated his intentions of playing offense, his mentor, ‘The Eagle’ had a surprising take on the matchup.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Gives Merab Dvalishvili His Flowers
Khabib Nurmagomedov has always been respectful of his opponents. Continuing the trend, Khabib did an honest breakdown of Dvalishvili’s fighting style. Heaping praises on the champion, the UFC legend mentioned that ‘The Machine’ was an excellent freestyle wrestler and had incredible adaptability.
Surprisingly, Khabib concluded that it was Merab Dvalishvili who was the better wrestler among the two. “Merab is the better freestyle wrestler, and Merab is better than him on pressure…” said Khabib.
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Khabib breaks down Umar vs Merab:
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) January 11, 2025
“Merab is the better freestyle wrestler, and Merab is better than him on pressure…
But when we see how [Umar] mixes it up… he’s one of the best right now in the world. It’s gonna be a very high level fight.”#UFC311pic.twitter.com/z0uj4ASpXw
However, the undefeated former UFC champion further mentioned that Umar Nurmagomedov has a good mixture of striking and wrestling. And that’s where he is so dangerous. Thus, with the fight expected to be a banger, it remains to be seen how things turn out once the cage door closes on January 18.
Also Read: Merab Dvalishvili Throws Disrespect At Umar Nurmagomedov Ahead Of UFC 311 Face Off
