Henry Cejudo likens Merab Dvalishvili's dominance with Dricus du Plessis but explains why he somewhat disagrees with Umar Nurmagomedov decision

Henry Cejudo recently praised Merab Dvalishvili and even compared him to the likes of Dricus du Plessis and Belal Muhammad. However, Cejudo had doubts about Dvalishvili's decision victory over Umar Nurmagomedov last month.

For context, Dvalishvili made his first title defense in a bantamweight contest against Nurmagomedov in the co-main event of UFC 311 last month. Despite being behind on the scorecards, 'The Machine' bounced back with his never-ending cardio and won the fight via unanimous decision, handing Nurmagomedov his first professional MMA defeat.

While many in the MMA community expressed their admiration for Dvalishvili's performance, some were skeptical about the outcome, including Cejudo. 'Triple C', in a recent interview with Home of Fight, stated that Nurmagomedov did more in the title fight and should have gotten his hand raised.

''It gave me a whole another level of respect for Merab. It's the same thing with DDP and even Belal [Muhammad], you notice like that trend of that fighting style of volume and and just throwing sh*t like it's going to get more popular...It's not like Merab beat the sh*t out of Nurmagomedov, if it was a full fight and damage it as a whole I would probably give the fight to Umar.''

Check out Henry Cejudo's comments below (10:07):

Dvalishvili earned the title shot against the then-champion Sean O'Malley after dominantly defeating Cejudo at UFC 298 last year. Following his unanimous decision loss to the reigning champion, 'Triple C' is scheduled to take on Song Yadong at UFC Seattle this weekend.

Ahead of the matchup, Cejudo spoke to MMA Fighting and expressed his desire for another run at the 135-pound belt, saying:

''100 percent [going for the title], that’s what it’s always about...This is the last run. I’m making this last push, this last hurrah over here.'' [H/t: MMA Fighting]

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Merab Dvalishvili takes a jab at Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov witnessed his cousin Umar Nurmagomedov lose his undefeated status at UFC 311 as 'Young Eagle' was unsuccessful in his title bid against Merab Dvalishvili.

Championship Rounds recently took to X and posted Dvalishvili's remarks about the Nurmagomedov clan. Dvalishvili questioned Khabib's title run, stating that while the Dagestani fighters are good, they are not unbeatable. He said:

''Dagestanis are really good fighters. They have always excelled in martial arts... But at the same time, they are ordinary people, heavenly forces do not help them. They are ordinary athletes and others can defeat them, as you saw in my case. Khabib went undefeated, but he simply did not meet a worthy opponent."