Merab Dvalishvili takes aim at prior opponents Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo and Sean O’Malley, vows to “smash” Umar Nurmagomedov

Merab Dvalishvili took aim at a number of his previous opponents on Saturday afternoon, this while vowing to “smash” Umar Nurmagomedov.

Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA) became the UFC’s newly minted bantamweight champion earlier this month at The Sphere in Las Vegas, earning a dominant unanimous decision victory over Sean O’Malley.

Merab’s impressive title-earning performance at UFC 306 marked his eleventh victory in a row and has him poised to take on undefeated contender Umar Nurmagomedov in his first title defense.

While originally not seeming overly keen on the idea of fighting ‘Young Eagle’ next, Merab Dvalishvili has changed his tune in recent days.

Most recently, ‘The Machine’ took to ‘X‘ where he vowed to “smash” Umar Nurmagomedov next, this while taking aim at his three most previous opponents in Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo and Sean O’Malley.

I smacked Petr Yan’s a** like a b****, I carried Henry Cejudo like a baby, I kissed Sean O’Malley like his daddy BUT I will simply SMASH Umar if the UFC puts him in front of me next. 💯

— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) September 28, 2024

“I smacked Petr Yan’s a** like a b****, I carried Henry Cejudo like a baby, I kissed Sean O’Malley like his daddy BUT I will simply SMASH Umar if the UFC puts him in front of me next. 💯”

Merab Dvalishvili fought and defeated former champion Petr Yan with relative ease in March of 2023. The Georgian’s next fight would come against another former 135lbs champion in Henry Cejudo at UFC 298. While not as dominant as his performance over ‘No Mercy’, Dvalishvili was able to outpoint ‘Triple C’ on route to a unanimous decision victory. That win over Cejudo of course propelled ‘The Machine’ into his most recent bout, a title fight opposite Sean O’Malley at UFC 306. Merab ended up cruising past ‘Suga’ two weeks ago at The Sphere to become the promotion’s undisputed bantamweight champion.

How do you think a future bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov would play out? Do you think ‘The Machine’ would “smash” the ‘Young Eagle’ as he claims?