It’s no secret that UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili didn’t want to fight Umar Nurmagomedov. While the two men are set to clash at UFC 311 in January, the Georgian champ has made his contempt for Nurmagomedov clear and believes that the Dagestani doesn’t deserve a title shot. At least that is the reason Dvalishvili gives to the public for not wanting to fight Nurmagomedov.

But former bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo thinks that is not the ‘real’ reason Dvalishvili doesn’t want to fight Nurmagomedov. Instead, Cejudo feels that the Georgian is essentially scared of losing to the undefeated Dagestani and getting on the unceremonious list of fighters who couldn’t defend their title even once.

“I saw Merab in Utah, we even talked about, he even asked me like hey man what do you think about this fight [with Umar]? I’m like ‘Hey man,’ I’m like… ‘he’s the biggest threat for all of us, dude.’ And I said ‘what you’re going up against is you’re going up against a f***ing killer,” Cejudo was quoted as saying in a video posted by ‘Simple MMA’ on YouTube.

Nurmagomedov, of course, comes from the same Dagestani stable as his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov and teammate Islam Makhachev. This also points toward the fact that Umar is also a world-class wrestler. In addition, the undefeated Dagestani has developed stellar striking skills and can hold his own against the best strikers in the division. This combined with Umar’s youth and burning desire to become UFC champ makes him a daunting foe. This is the actual reason Dvalisvili was so against fighting Umar, according to Cejudo.

“You’re going to have to take risks, that’s your best opportunity of actually beating him.’ I said ‘You’re going to have to go out and go for broke because this guy could wrestle, he’s f***ing younger than you, he could strike, and he’s more of a submission threat. So the reason why Merab didn’t want to fight him, it’s just a simple fact that real recognizes real. He knows that this guy is a problem and it’s just the simple facts,” he added.

‘The Machine’ seems well aware of the daunting challenge Umar is for him, even as he is still upset at Umar for wanting to fight for the title.

What does Merab Dvalishvili think of Umar Nurmagomedov as a fighter?

Merab Dvalishvili sat down with ESPN’s Megan Olivi ahead of his UFC 311 clash against Umar, where he yet again reiterated the reason for his disdain against the Dagestani. “Umar is a good fighter. It’s a big challenge, but he don’t earn it like the rest of us. We all know we work hard to get here… He fought only (Cory) Sandhagen (with) no wrestling… He should be humble at least,” ‘The Machine’ said.

Of course, Umar fought and defeated the then #2 ranked Cory Sandhagen earlier this year and is now set to fight for the title, leapfrogging the entire top ten of the division. Umar was ranked #10 at the time, and most (including Dvalishvili) feel that the Dagestani got preferential treatment from the UFC because he was Khabib’s cousin. On the other hand, the champ is under no illusions about the threat that Umar poses to him. In fact, he echoed some of the very points that Cejudo brought up about Umar.

“The fight will be really tough and this is a big, big challenge for me because it’s a new face and yeah, he’s a good fighter. He’s [Umar] good at kicking, striking, wrestling, and it’s a new challenge,” he added. What do you think about Henry Cejudo’s comments about Umar Nurmagomedov?