Yeah... After beating Umar Nurmagomedov, I'm not really sure who could beat him. He'll be a champ for a long time until his body can't do it no more. But he'll prolly retire a champ. There's nobody left for him to fight unless he wants to move up to 145.
I don't understand why people talk so much about Umar, why do people think that he is the one who can beat Merab? He was so humiliated in that fight that if I was him, I wouldn't fight him before. Also, he doesn't deserve a rematch unless he beats some other top guys but I think that Dana White wants that rematch because he hates Merab and somehow builds his hope on Umar but he will see how Umar will be beaten again.If you see, Merab is reaching new levels after every fight. Despite the fact that he is 34 years old, he is getting better every day and from this performance against Sean O'Malley, I can't really see anyone beating Merab in this division, even if they fight him in a row in a single day. Nobody can tire Merab, nobody can wrestle him, nobody can knock him out and I'd even say that nobody can strike him, he outstriked Sean O'Malley. Did you watch how amazing Merab's striking was? This short guy was punching better than one of the best puncher in bantamweight.
Mmmm I know you're a huge Dvalishvili fan and I respect that and not taking anything away from him but I think a rematch should be in the works for those guys as Umar Nurmagomedov broke his right hand early in their first fight. That's why Dvalishvili made it look easy. I think it would've been closer if Nurmagomedov didn't break his hand.
If he can't strike without breaking his hand, then he shouldn't strike, that's not an excuse. I also often hear that Merab won because he has unlimited cardio, otherwise Umar would win. Oh my, everyone has their strength and weaknesses, their strength is their key into success. For some its cardio, for some its punch force, for some its height. Haters will hate anyways.By the way, do you know how long it will take Umar to recover? His hand injury was serious as I remember, they put a metal in his hand or something like that. I think that his hand will be prone to injury in the next fight and he should focus more on wrestling but I don't know, his coaches and medical team know it better, I've never broken anything in my life, so my experience into that is very limited.
There are many questions that I have. If Umar really hasn't broken his hand, he would have a chance but would he knock out Merab? I think he wasn't able and since round 3, he got very tired. I thought that training by Khabib meant your maximum potential, so will he be able to improve his cardio or did we see his limit? There is no way it can match to Merab's cardio but will it significantly improve? Also, we saw an immensely improved version of Merab against Sean O'Malley, so how much of a chance does Umar has in the next fight against Merab? I bet we will see even more improved version of Merab against him.
Also, we shouldn't forget that Merab was on antibiotics when he fought Umar. I'm an athlete and I'd say that antibiotics really affect your strength and stamina, they cause GI issues and you are not really on the mood of training or fight. The first few days are okay, it's not noticeable but day 5 and 6 were brutal for me.
Dana White wants to see Umar's rematch (even Merab wants that too) but I think Umar has to beat top 2-3 at first because Dana can't really give him title fight easily again. I think we will see their fight in 2026.
Not really sure how long until Umar is good and ready to go. But from the post fight press conference, Dana White said Sandhagen is probably next but he would like to see Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov run it back. So yeah, I think it's gonna be one like the O'Malley rematch. No fights prior for Umar to set up a win before going for the champ. It could go straight to Umar after Sandhagen.
If Jones and Aspinall gets set up later this year, Dvalishvili vs Nurmagomedov could be the co main event. But then again... Dunno. That's just me.