Media No, Merab wasn't screwed out of a title shot

[flowoftruth]

There is a new narrative from Merab fans that he doesn't want to fight Umar because he had to go through a gauntlet of contenders before UFC would give him an opportunity.
It is true that many fighters have a much longer road than others imposed on them by the UFC before getting a title shot - see : Tony, Dariush, Demian Maia, Ankalaev, Belal.

However, Merab certainly wasn't one of them. In fact, he took himself out of the conversation by telling anyone that would listen that he's not going to fight Aljo for the belt. Even when Aljo lost the belt, there was a period where Merab was saying he may wait and let Aljo have a rematch first. Dana was very pissed at him and at one point was saying he shouldn't be in the UFC if that's his mentality.

"“After Aljamain Sterling, I am the No. 1 contender. We all know that,” Dvalishvili told MMA Junkie. “I have a nine-fight winning streak and I beat two former champions back to back. I fought everybody who they put in front of me. … I think the right way is that Aljo comes back, beat O’Malley, get his belt back, and I think after that he may go up a weight class." - SOURCE

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Merab fans

I think it's more Sean haters unless we got an injection of triathlete fans who dream of weaponizing their cardio

 

[Substance Abuse]

Yes, TS, you are correct, Chito was deserving of his shot against Sean O'Malley coming off of a blowout loss against Sandhagen over Merab who had not lost a fight in six years and was on a ten fight win streak. Don't even mention the Munhoz win, which was razor thin and could have gone to Pedro, putting Vera on a losing streak.

 

[jk7707]

Yes, TS, you are correct, Chito was deserving of his shot against Sean O'Malley coming off of a blowout loss against Sandhagen over Merab who had not lost a fight in six years and was on a ten fight win streak.