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Merab Dvalishvili was looking forward to celebrating his bitrhday and other festivities toward the end of the year, before the fight against Umar Nurmagomedov was scheduled. Dvalishvili, who turns 34 on Jan. 10, 2025, is set to attempt his first bantamweight title defense against Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 on Jan. 18.
In a recent interview with UFC Espanol, Dvalishvili shared that he had elaborate plans for the holiday season, which included spending time with his compatriot and UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, in Spain. However, he has decided to put those plans on hold to concentrate on his upcoming fight. Dvalishvili said:
"The fact that I will be coming back [within four months] after winning the title, I think it means a lot. I think it's a quick turnaround. Also, I took this fight, kind of quick also, six weeks... And I have no excuses. I had so many plans for Christmas, new year, my birthday... And I was going to go with Ilia in Spain and enjoy. But you know what, Umar [doesn't] want to fight during Ramadan, no problem."
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Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below (18:30):
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Topuria and Dvalishvili are two of the most successful UFC fighters from Georgia. They shared a close friendship and a strong bond that led to Dvalishvili naming Topuria as the one UFC champion he would never fight.
Merab Dvalishvili lays out an ambitious plan for 2025
Merab Dvalishvili plans to stay active in 2025 as he prepares to fight the formidable Umar Nurmagomedov. He aims quick turnarounds, with intentions to fight former opponents Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan in the first half of the year.
In the aforementioned interview with UFC Espanol, Dvalishvili said:
"I want to win this fight [against Umar Nurmagomedov] and be busy in 2025. I'm fighting early this year, in January 18 and I just want to stay busy. I know O'Malley wants to come back in April, I think Petr [Yan] will be ready in March. So maybe fight Petr in March, [O'Malley] rematch in April... And, whoever will be the next contender, I will treat the division again." [19:25]
Dvalishvili defeated both Yan and O'Malley by unanimous decision. He dominated Yan in their March 2023 bout, setting the record for most takedowns attempted in a single fight, with 49 attempts. He claimed the bantamweight title from O'Malley with another commanding performance at Noche UFC 306 in September.
Despite his impressive track record, Dvalishvili is considered an underdog heading into his next fight against Nurmagomedov. He recently mentione that his teammates, Aljamain Sterling and Chris Weidman were shocked when he accepted the fight on a relatively short notice, believing he should have taken more time to prepare.
