Umar Nurmagomedov would appear to be next in line for whoever comes out on top in this weekend's UFC 306 main event.
Champion Sean O'Malley looks to earn his second title defense when he takes on Merab Dvalishvili at the Sphere.
However, in the lead up to this fight, Dvalishvili has explained why he doesn't believe that Nurmagomedov is currently at the front of the pack.
The cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov is undefeated at 18-0 but his only win over a ranked opponent was his most recent outing against Cory Sandhagen, which elevated him all the way to the #2-spot.
Dvalishvili has instead made the case for former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo being his first challenger if he becomes champion on September 14, after winning three in a row since moving up to 135 pounds.
Kamaru Usman Argues Why Merab Dvalishvili Should Be Lobbying For Umar Nurmagomedov Fight Next
On a recent appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, Dvalishvili once again explained why he doesn't think Nurmagomedov has got enough high-level wins to justify a title shot.
There's no denying that this would be a big fight for the UFC considering the legacy of Nurmagomedov's family name and that's something that Usman addressed.
After hearing Dvalishvili's reasoning, he looked to get across to him why fighting Nurmagomedov should be an option that he considers rather than disregarding him.
"The Nigerian Nightmare" spoke about how it's important for a champion to make the most of their time at the top by getting the biggest possible fights out there, which right now in the bantamweight division, means taking on the undefeated contender.
I get it, if we're going by the rankings senses, it makes more sense 100% but, at the same time, we have to understand and I want you to understand this. This is one thing I'm gonna tell you Merab. If by God's grace you are the champion, you have to understand that as the champion, now I have to use this belt, this position to accumulate as much income as I can at that time because time waits for nobody.
At some point, we're gonna get old, we're going to change and the belt is going to change hands, there's going to be new champions even whether you retire the champion or not. There's going to be a new champion so the job, the goal, is to pull in as much as you can while you're in that position and we can't deny that a fight with a guy like yourself and Umar Nurmagomedov would be a bigger sell than a fight with Deiveson Figueiredo at this time, even though Figueiredo is still, I think, a big name.
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