Merab Dvalishvili believes Deiveson Figueiredo is 'more dangerous guy' than Umar Nurmagomedov
Yesterday at 08:00 AM
Merab Dvalishvili will fight whoever the UFC puts in front of him. He just hopes they choose Deiveson Figueiredo.
At UFC 306, Dvalishvili claimed the bantamweight title with a five-round drubbing of Sean O'Malley, winning a unanimous decision. Following his win, the UFC appears to be targeting a matchup with Umar Nurmagomedov for Dvalishvili's first title defense, asking about him during Dvalishvili's post-fight interview, but "The Machine" seems less interested in that fight.
In his post-fight press conference, Dvalishvili said he wants to fight former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, saying it would be his fifth former champion in a row. But a few days removed from that and Dvalishvili wants to make it clear he won't say no to Nurmagomedov if offered.
"Bring it here, bro! Bring it!" Dvalishvili said when Daniel Cormier asked him about fighting Nurmagomedov on his YouTube channel. "Bring it here! I know he's your guy."
Nurmagomedov is the cousin of all-time great Khabib Nurmagomedov and viewed by some as a future champion of the bantamweight division. The 28-year-old fighter is 18-0 in his professional career and recently won a unanimous decision over Cory Sandhagen to move up to No. 2 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.
Meanwhile, Figueiredo is No. 5 in the bantamweight rankings, but the former flyweight champion is 3-0 since moving up to 135 pounds, with all three wins coming over ranked opposition. And for Dvalishvili, he's the more proven, dangerous fighter.
"Yeah, because he's a more value guy, I think," Dvalishvili explained, when asked why he wants to fight Figueiredo. "He's a more dangerous guy. It excites me more.
"But I fight the best of the best. I fought Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, and even other guys, the top guys. You think I'm scared or choose my opponent? No."
