Umar Nurmagomedov takes shots at Aljamain Sterling for defending Merab Dvalishvili over ducking allegations

Umar Nurmagomedov refused to take in Aljamain Sterling's explanation of Merab Dvalishvili's reluctance to accept a fight against him. Nurmagomedov also provided Sterling with a befitting logic besides differing from his defensive statement for his friend.

Dvalishvili looked reluctant towards accepting a title defense fight against Nurmagomedov despite Joe Rogan mentioning his name during his UFC 306 octagon interview. However, in a recent meetup with She Loves The Gloves earlier this month, 'The Machine' hinted at taking on Nurmagomedov in March next year.

But Nurmagomedov isn't expected to be available to fight in March due to Ramadan. This is why a lot of MMA fans have been deriding Dvalishvili's choice of time for the fight. Sterling recently decided to provide a reply to all such fans with a tweet. It read:

"You guys are exhausting. Constantly repeating stuff that makes NO sense. He just won the belt. Merab is Christian, not Muslim. Making one man’s religious beliefs the cause for “ducking” is baffling. How the heck is that Merab’s fault?? Make it make sense...That’s right, you can’t!"

However, the Dagestani bantamweight contender countered Sterling's defensive statement about his friend with a reply to his tweet. Nurmagomedov wrote:

"He [is] ready to fight with sugar in November, but with me, not [no]. That’s why, Aljamain"

It's apparent that Nurmagomedov is unhappy about Dvalishvili making him wait till March while agreeing to fight Sean O'Malley once again in November.

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Umar Nurmagomedov may have to fight a lower-ranked contender due to Merab Dvalishvili's rejection

Merab Dvalishvili is unwilling to accept a fight against Umar Nurmagomedov before March 2025. But in an interview with Kevin Iole, the Dagestani said that he doesn't want to wait for the fight against 'The Machine'.

"I don't want to wait...I want to fight now, I want to fight two months before Ramadan. I want to be active...one fight before Ramadan maybe January or December...then after Ramadan we'll see what's going to happen."

Check out Umar Nurmagomedov's comments below (3:44):

Nurmagomedov was pretty keen on having his fight against Dvalishvili before Ramadan. However, because of the mismatch in preferred timelines, he will probably have to fight the No.8-ranked bantamweight contender, Song Yadong, as revealed by Red Corner MMA on X.