In January, Umar Nurmagomedov suffered his first professional defeat against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311. Since then, ‘The Young Eagle’ has been on the path of vengeance, and that’s why he took the fight against No.9-ranked bantamweight Mario Bautista at UFC 321 to earn a rematch with ‘The Machine’ in the future. Well, Dana White has indicated that the Dagestani would get a title shot with a win in Abu Dhabi, but he made things more interesting by adding a condition.

At the UFC 321 pre-fight press conference, reporters asked Umar about the impact of his last loss against the reigning 135 lbs king. Here he responded, “No.. noo.. It’s too boring to talk about this guy all the time, you know. I wanna talk about the belt.” After that, when asked whether he thinks the fight is actually for the number one contender position, the UFC CEO made it clear that the Dagestani has to make a statement on Saturday to earn the next spot against Merab Dvalishvili.

Dana White wants Umar Nurmagomedov to make a statement at UFC 321 

At UFC 321 pre-fight presser, ‘The Young Eagle’ added, “And I will be the next contender, and it’s gonna be great for me about this guy. If it’s gonna happen, of course I will fight. (To Dana) It’s question like… it’s possible that this fight contender… me and Mario?” To this, Dana White replied, “That this fight be the contender fight? Go out there and make it. Go out there and put on a show on Saturday that makes people go, ‘Damn! One of these fighters should be fighting for the title next.’” 

Here, the UFC CEO indicated that just a win might not be enough for Umar Nurmagomedov to earn the title shot. He needs to either get a finish or completely dominate his opponent over five rounds. But there’s also a catch, because although White didn’t clearly say it, he also opened the door for Mario Bautista to defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin and move forward to face Merab Dvalishvili as a fresh challenger as well. So, it seems the next title shot is truly up for grabs.   

At present, the bantamweight champ is scheduled to make a quick turnaround against Petr Yan at UFC 323. And to be honest, ‘The Machine’ will likely receive the favorite tag once again in the rematch. Also, the reigning bantamweight champ is on track to achieve the milestone of defending the UFC championship belt four times in a year on December 6th. So, if the Georgian champ successfully defends his crown, he will need another great opponent to face next year

January 18, 2025, Inglewood, California, USA: MERAB DVALISHVILI 19-4-0 of Tbilisi, Georgia defeats UMAR NURMAGOMEDOV 18-1-0 of Kizilyurt, Russia by unanimous decision 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 during UFC 311 at the Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California Inglewood USA – ZUMAo117 20250118_zsp_o117_095 Copyright: xMikaelxOnax

Because of that, Umar Nurmagomedov might be looking past his UFC 321 clash, as he has already started claiming that the rematch against Dvalishvili will be very different from last time. 

‘The Young Eagle’  believes that the rematch against ‘The Machine’ would be different  

At UFC 311, Umar Nurmagomedov fought with a broken hand and still managed to win the first two rounds against Merab Dvalishvili, which has been a major topic of debate among MMA fans. Some believe the Georgian didn’t face the best version of the Dagestani, while others argue that Merab’s relentless pressure would have beaten him regardless. So, there are definitely some questions surrounding the rematch.

But ‘The Young Eagle’ firmly believes he will leave no questions this time, as he knows the rematch will go very differently from the first fight. At the UFC 321 media day, Umar said, “If you ask him I think he will say, ‘He has to fight 10 times until he wins 10. What I can [say]? It’s just his mind, his opinion, and he can say whatever he wants, but reality is going to be different. Because he knows, everybody knows why he’s talking like this. Because he knows what’s going to happen in fight next. He knows it was very close, and it’s funny for everyone, not just for me.”

Well, Umar sounds very confident and sure about his chances to defeat Dvalishvili. And since he already accepted Dana White’s condition for UFC 321, we’ll soon find out whether the Dagestani truly looks different if he actually earns a shot at the reigning champion next. Of course, that also depends on whether the Georgian defends his title successfully vs Petr Yan at the last PPV of the ESPN era.

With that being said, what do you think? Can Umar Nurmagomedov actually earn the title shot against Merab Dvalishvili in the future or not? Let us know in the comments section below.