Chael Sonnen shares eye-opening theory on Merab Dvalishvili's "secret grudge" against Umar Nurmagomedov: "A big deal to come out and disclose that"

Chael Sonnen recently shared his two cents on Umar Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili making injury claims ahead of their bantamweight title fight at UFC 311 this weekend. The UFC icon theorized that Nurmagomedov's injury revelation was part of a greater plan, as was Dvalishvili's subsequent claims.

For context, Nurmagomedov recently let it slip that he was suffering from a fractured arm and was advised by his team not to go ahead with the fight. However, he later turned back on his comments and claimed he was fully healthy. Intriguingly, Dvalishvili later came out stating that he also trained for this fight carrying injuries.

In a recent YouTube video, Sonnen discussed the two UFC bantamweight stars claiming to have been injured in the build-up to their fight. He speculated that Nurmagomedov was trying to minimize Dvalishvili's potential victory with injury claims and said:

"A secret grudge. A private grudge... It comes out on Umar's side of things that he has an injury. Something wrong with his arm... That's a big deal to come out and disclose that when you're seeking something known as a privileged license... The other thing that it does, inadvertently, it takes from the opponent's victory, should he get one."

Sonnen continued:

"Umar, somewhere along the way, realizes that it's not a good idea to be injured, and, all of a sudden, he's healed... Which brings us all the way until yesterday where Merab has come out and said that he's the one injured... That is so mean, by both of them... We've never seen this before."

Catch Chael Sonnen's comments below (6:20):

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Khabib Nurmagomedov on Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311

Khabib Nurmagomedov recently shared his thoughts on the Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov fight. The UFC legend will be cornering his cousin brother and has been actively involved in his training camp.

In a recent interview, Nurmagomedov predicted a very "high-level" fight between the two and stated:

"He [Dvalishvili] has got championship heart... Merab is the better freestyle wrestler, and Merab is better than him on pressure. But when we see how [Umar] mixes it up, like Mixed Martial Arts, he’s one of the best right now in the world... It’s gonna be a very high-level fight."