Khabib Nurmagomedov hopes Umar Nurmagomedov finally ends up fighting Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight title.
Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who’s Khabib’s cousin, emerged as No. 1 contender after defeating Cory Sandhagen in Saturday’s UFC on ABC 7 important event in Abu Dhabi. He awaits the winner of the title fight between bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC), which headlines UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
“I would like Merab, to be honest, because he’s from Georgia,” Nurmagomedov said in a UFC interview. “We’re neighbors, Dagestan and Georgia. I would like Merab to win since it’s going to be a really interesting fight. White papakha vs. black papakha. But when O’Malley wins, it’s going to be white papakha vs. pink papakha. It’s going to be good competition for O’Malley, a excellent fight, high-level fight for the entire fans world wide.
“It’s hard to beat Umar, and it’s hard to beat Merab or Sean O’Malley. That is high level. Anything can occur, but for my part, Umar is prepared. This fight put him yet another level up, and we’ll see. He’s still growing, too. He’s still learning. He’s just 28 years old, and he’s still learning.”
Dvalishvili is on a 10-fight unbeaten streak – including wins over former champions Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo.
O’Malley knocked out Dvalishvili’s teammate, Aljamain Sterling, to turn into champion, then notched his first title defense with a battering of Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March.
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