Even though UFC 306 was completely taken over by Merab Dvalishvili, everyone is still busy talking about the unbeaten Dagestani fighter Umar Nurmagomedov. From Cory Sandhagen to Henry Cejudo, fans have one verdict: Umar Nurmagomedov will certainly win the belt. Cejudo has previously hailed Khabib’s cousin as the best fighter in 135 pounds and it seems like he’s sticking to his point even now.

In the recent Pound  4 Pound podcast, Umar Nurmagomedov was the guest and he got the ultimate compliment from Triple C. Cejudo said, “Umar you are a stud man, congratulations. I think you’re uh, you’re on your way to do some amazing things, and I do believe that you will become champion. And you will defend as many times as you decide to. Because I think you are just; I feel like you’re just that good man. And I think you are a problem for either one that is going to win this fight.”

So, Khabib’s cousin is a force to be reckoned with, as everyone is favoring him! On top of that, Dvalishvili, who did not want the Dagestani as his opponent before, is finally warming up to the idea as well!

Before this, the new bantamweight champion did not want to fight the Dagestani. His word was that the undefeated fighter was still not deserving of a title shot and needed to fight more top athletes. On top of that, he also mentioned the favoritism that was going on for the young fighter since he was from Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team.

Dvalishvili said, “Umar is not from Russia, he is from Dagestan but he still represents Russia.”  However, this made team Khabib angry and they retaliated. However, at present, it seems like the Georgian American has agreed to fight his next opponent. In the meantime, let’s see what Islam Makhachev had said in retaliation.

Team Khabib was not happy with Dvalishvili’s comments on his young cousin

After Dvalishvili made the comments about Umar not being a true Russian, the Hall of Famer and Islam Makhachev retaliated immediately. “Merab lives in America,” retorted Makhachev. He also declared that Dagestan was in Russia and that ‘The Machine’ was employing ‘mind games’ to instigate Umar, which would be replied to by Umar inside the octagon.

Even Usman Nurmagomedov, Umar’s brother retaliated on X. He wrote, “You can run, but you can’t hide. Soon Umar will become undisputed, undefeated bantamweight champion, and will hold this belt for as long as he wants.” Nevertheless, now it seems like the tides have changed because the bantamweight champion has agreed to fight the undefeated combatant. He came onto X and declared that he would fight anybody that UFC boss, Dana White chose for him. However, he still thinks that the 28-year-old does not deserve the title shot yet.

He wrote, “Guys- I hear all of you! I am a company man. Whoever the UFC puts in front of me, I will fight as I always do, even if I don’t think they deserve the next shot. Let’s Go.” Who do you think is going to win when this matchup happens? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.