Will Merab Dvalishvili Achieve GOAT Status with a Win Over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311?
Is Merab Dvalishvili one win away from becoming the bantamweight division’s undisputed GOAT?
After delivering a dominant performance against ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley in September, ‘The Machine’ will put his 135-pound title on the line for the first time in the UFC 311 co-main event. Standing across from Dvalishvili will be the division’s No. 2 ranked contender, Umar Nurmagomedov.
The undefeated Dagestani scored his first title opportunity via a lights-out performance against Cory Sandhagen over the summer.
It’s an incredibly tough test for Dvalishvili’s first defense, but if he comes out on top, he’ll be the greatest bantamweight mixed martial artist of all time. At least, that’s what his coach, John Wood, believes.
“(If) Merab goes out and beats Umar, which I believe he will, I think there’s no question that he’s the bantamweight GOAT,” Wood told Inside Fighting. “And had all those guys that he beat been title defenses, it’s not even a question now. So I think we’re looking at the next bantamweight GOAT here shortly” (h/t MMA Junkie).
Though this is his first time defending the bantamweight belt, Dvalishvili has spent much of his career bagging wins over noteworthy names in one of MMA’s most stacked divisions. Over the last few years, he’s beaten Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, Jose Aldo, and the aforementioned O’Malley.
Merab Dvalishvili locked in despite recent string of emotional outburts
Ever since his fight with Nurmagomedov was announced, Dvalishvili has been uncharacteristically riled up, his biggest gripe being that the Dagestani simply hasn’t done enough to earn the position he’s in.
Regardless of the Georgian’s recent antics, Wood insists that the champ is locked in and motivated, just as he was in his last three outings.
“He was motivated and emotional by Petr Yan,” Wood said. “He was motivated and emotional with Henry Cejudo at one point. He was motivated and emotional with O’Malley, so it’s no different. That is part of the process that we get into. He doesn’t have to hate somebody or be whatever to be motivated, but it’s part of the process.
“He gets into the fight. He’s there to fight, he’s there to go out there and do battle with the person across the cage. This one, there’s been a little more emotion to it as far as he feels a little disrespected that he is the champion, and that there’s a lot of debate on whether Umar deserves the title shot.”
