Merab Dvalishvili Teases Massive 2026 Plans, Declares He’s “Done With” Umar Nurmagomedov
Reigning UFC bantamweight kingpin Merab Dvalishvili recently appeared on the Pound 4 Pound podcast and revealed his fight plans for 2026. ‘The Machine’ also took a dig at his former opponent, Umar Nurmagomedov.
Dvalishvili has defended his strap three times already in 2025. He first beat Umar in January, then submitted Sean O’Malley in a rematch in June, and made a quick turnaround to beat Cory Sandhagen in October. ‘The Machine’ will defend his gold for the fourth time in 2025 as he pursues the UFC record of fourth successful title defense within a calendar year. He will take on Petr Yan at UFC 323 in a rematch.
Ahead of the bout, ‘The Machine’ spoke with Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman. He discussed why he needs to defeat Yan again:
“He’s from Russia, I’m from Georgia. Every time we have a competition against the Russians, we have to win.”
Even in the past, the 34-year-old had cited the same reason to Daniel Cormier, while explaining why he hates ‘No Mercy.’
“I don’t like Petr Yan… He’s Russian right? Russia has occupied my country’s territory, and it’s personal for me. When everytime we fight against the Russians, we are always trying to win. If I have to fight him, I’ve two choices. Win against him, or if I lose, I gotta k*ll myself.”
Coming to his 2026 plans, the Georgian phenom said:
“I want to fight in March. I hope I’ll get this White House fight [as well].”
Coming to Umar, and what he hates about the latter, Dvalishvili added:
“What kind of man are you when somebody tweets for you? He called me a fake champion, and I’m done with him. Next question, please.”
Check out Merab Dvalishvili’s comments below:
Umar Nurmagomedov thinks Petr Yan has a chance to beat Merab Dvalishvili in UFC 323 rematch
Umar Nurmagomedov most recently secured a dominant decision victory over Mario Bautista. After the win, he issued a strong warning to Merab Dvalishvili, saying he’s ‘coming for the belt.’
The first time ‘The Machine’ fought Umar, the latter broke his hand during the fight, which he says was the reason for his subpar performance. Umar wants a number one contender fight early in 2026 before the potential Dvalishvili rematch. The Russian fighter also weighed in on the impending UFC 323 headliner. During an interview with Mike Bohn, he said:
“I think yes. He’s [Petr Yan] very good on these arms, and he has always any fighter has a chance always. Just depends on how he will stop the takedowns. He’s really athletic, they both are good, and we will see what happens.”
Check out Umar Nurmagomedov’s comments below (10:01):
