Coach responds to Umar Nurmagomedov title shot critics

Merab Dvalishvili has been very vocal about his ideas on the advantage of Umar Nurmagomedov’s title shot.

The UFC bantamweight champion doesn’t see Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) deserving of the title alternative, which is ready to play out within the co-main occasion of UFC 311 on Jan. 18 in Inglewood, Calif. (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) thinks there are higher deserving contenders in line, and a few followers have agreed together with his rhetoric.

Javier Mendez, coach of Nurmagomedov, disagrees with Dvalishvili’s claims.

“That is what I say: When he fought Cory Sandhagen, UFC stated that whoever wins that struggle would struggle for the title – whether or not it was going to be )Sean) O’Malley or Merab,” Mendez informed Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “That’s what the UFC informed Umar and Sandhagen. So why now that the struggle is over, and Umar received, why is it that what UFC had stated ought to not be true? UFC desires this struggle. That’s why they introduced Umar to the Sphere, proper?

“When (Dvalishvili) received, they usually interviewed him, they usually stated that is your subsequent problem, Merab stated, ‘Oh, Dana wants to speak to me. He must get to know me as an individual, after which we’ll speak about it.’ Why? The UFC wished this struggle. Umar didn’t say, ‘Hey, I have to struggle for the title if I beat Sandhagen.’ No, they have been those that stated the winner would go for the title subsequent, in order that’s all we’re doing. Umar informed me, ‘Look, coach. In the event that they don’t give me the title, I simply need to struggle earlier than Ramadan.’ That’s all. He simply wished to struggle.”

On the flip aspect of this debate, some followers have instructed that Dvalishvili’s criticism doesn’t come from a spot of desirous to see equity play out within the division, however concern of shedding his title.

“I don’t consider he’s petrified of Umar. He’s a champion, and the champion doesn’t concern anybody,” Mendez stated.

The Staff Eagle camp has been well-known for its high-level, sambo-based Dagestan fighters. It’s typically assumed {that a} Staff Eagle fighter will all the time enter about with a wrestling benefit.

Nevertheless, this UFC 311 matchups is attention-grabbing, provided that Dvalishvili is among the only wrestlers immediately, and even out wrestled Olympic wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo final February at UFC 298.

Mendez thinks Nurmagomedov can have the benefit in each the putting and grappling division. He doesn’t suppose Nurmagomodov will wrestle on the bottom.

“The trail to victory for us is each – we have to do each,” Mendez stated. “Merab is absolutely good at taking the struggle to the bottom, so I feel we’ll must struggle in each areas, and I do know that we’re going to beat in each putting and grappling. The factor that he has higher than us is the conditioning, however you recognize what, we don’t have to do greater than 5 rounds. We’re not doing 10 or seven, we’re doing 5 – solely 5. Umar can do 5 laborious rounds no drawback.”

For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 311.