Nurmagomedov to Dvalishvili: Everyone knows 'you don't want to fight me'

Umar Nurmagomedov doesn't seem to think Merab Dvalishvili has much interest in getting into the Octagon with him.

After Dvalishvili argued Deiveson Figueiredo as the worthiest No. 1 contender in the UFC bantamweight division, Nurmagomedov fired back at the upcoming title challenger.

Dvalishvili is scheduled to face 135-pound champion Sean O'Malley in the main event of UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.

"Merab, just focus on your upcoming fight. Too much Umar in your head," Nurmagomedov wrote Thursday night on X. "Everybody knows that you don't want to fight me.

"And honestly, I don't care about you. I'm just hunting for the belt. If you win the belt, we talk."

In what many believed was a title eliminator, Nurmagomedov defeated Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision in the UFC Abu Dhabi main event in August to become the No. 2-ranked bantamweight.

However, Dvalishvili told MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn earlier this week that he believes Figueiredo, the former flyweight champion who's 3-0 at bantamweight, deserves to take on the winner between him and O'Malley.

"(Figueiredo) beat one former champion in this weight class (Cody Garbrandt) and one title challenger (Marlon "Chito" Vera), and he beat Rob Font. And Figueiredo is former champion, and he has big name, and he deserves," Dvalishvili said.

"Umar, he only beat Cory Sandhagen from top 15. Only one guy he beat from top 15, and why he deserve to fight for the belt? ... I don't think he deserves to fight for the belt. That's my opinion."