Aljamain Sterling confident Merab Dvalishvili will outwrestle Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311: "You guys just don’t know"

Aljamain Sterling recently expressed his confidence in Merab Dvalishvili's abilities ahead of the latter's upcoming bantamweight title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. Sterling suggested that fans might be overlooking just how great his teammate's wrestling is and could be in for a surprise.

'The Machine's' wrestling and grappling has been on display throughout his career as he has had success against the likes of Jose Aldo and Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo. The buildup for the highly anticipated bantamweight title clash has been a heated one as Dvalishvili has taken offense to Nurmagomedov's comments about him on social media and in interviews.

In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, 'Funk Master' shared his thoughts on 'The Machine's' elite-level wrestling and noted that he will be prepared for all situations. Sterling referenced Cory Sandhagen's bout against Nurmagomedov and stated that Dvalishvili is a much better wrestler:

"If you guys don't think Merab is gonna be ready for these grappling exchanges...if Cory Sandhagen can get ready, a guy who's not coming from a grappling background at all, what do you think Merab is gonna do?...You guys just don't know...Of course [Dvalishvili can take Nurmagomedov down]. Umar even said it...I think in the back of his mind, that's playing a little bit of a factor and it's something he's definitely concerned about." [25:50]

Check out the full video featuring Aljamain Sterling's comments below:

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Aljamain Sterling believes Umar Nurmagomedov is a favorable matchup for Merab Dvalishvili

In addition to sharing his thoughts on Merab Dvalishvili's grappling and wrestling, Aljamain Sterling went on to say that he believes Umar Nurmagomedov is a favorable matchup for his teammate.

In the aforementioned video, Sterling mentioned that Dvalishvili is not like any opponent Nurmagomedov has fought so far and believes 'The Machine' will successfully retain his bantamweight championship:

"People can say that Umar [Nurmagomedov] is not like these other guys. Guess what? Merab [Dvalisvhili] is not like these other guys. There's a method to the madness and you guys are gonna see...And it's just gotta be smart...calculated, take our time...anything can happen, but I do think the odds are in our favor." [26:42]

Check out the UFC 311 promo featuring Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov below: