Media Umar Nurmagomedov responds to Merab's claims he hasn't earned a title shot

[svmr_db]

 

[HNIC215]

Umar is one of - if not - the toughest challenge in that division.

Of course Merab doesn’t want to fight him right away.

That’s how most champs are these days. Get the belt and immediately want some easy/fun title defenses instead.

Tough shit though, that fight is inevitable and it will be magnificent.

 

[TigerUppercut]

Like i said Merabs reign is already over before it begun, filler champ. Umar is up nxt

 

[AldoStillGoat]

Bryce Mitchell is top 15 too… what a dumb take by Umar (Ali).

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Umar is one of - if not - the toughest challenge in that division.

Of course Merab doesn’t want to fight him right away.

That’s how most champs are these days. Get the belt and immediately want some easy/fun title defenses instead.

Tough shit though, that fight is inevitable and it will be magnificent.

They do that in boxing a lot. Take a hard fight, then chill and take and easy fight or two. Can’t get away with that in mma.

Although I wish Merab could make some money winning a title defense and then losing the belt to Umar. Dude works hard and should get paid lol

 

[Carrotman23]

Umar is one of - if not - the toughest challenge in that division.

Of course Merab doesn’t want to fight him right away.

That’s how most champs are these days. Get the belt and immediately want some easy/fun title defenses instead.

Tough shit though, that fight is inevitable and it will be magnificent.

Yeah I was honestly a little shocked how bad the ducking was in that post fight interview.

Basically the worst I've ever seen to be honest, literally begging for a special wittle fwiendship with Dana right after the fight in a clear attempt to literally game the system to duck followed by a rambling half incoherent diatribe about how he's just a regular dude ("hello fellow plebs!")

I mean the guy kissed the ass of Mexico and the US as much as his home country Georgia which is fine and all but in retrospect just seems like another sign that he's an opportunist.

I get it though, and he's a great fighter and athlete, but man any chance at having a popular persona for him has been tanked lol.

 

[HNIC215]

They do that in boxing a lot. Take a hard fight, then chill and take and easy fight or two. Can’t get away with that in mma.

Although I wish Merab could make some money winning a title defense and then losing the belt to Umar. Dude works hard and should get paid lol

I agree he should get paid.

That’s on Dana and the UFC though.

Merab’s responsibility as champ is to defend the belt against the best competitors who are next in line.

We need to end this era of fun fights, interim belts and other bullshit that makes no sense.

I like fun fights just as much as the next person but the champion has to defend against the #1 contender.

Wait until you lose to do “fun fights”. The division needs to move to give everyone a chance.

 

[HNIC215]

Yeah I was honestly a little shocked how bad the ducking was in that post fight interview.

Basically the worst I've ever seen to be honest, literally begging for a special wittle fwiendship with Dana right after the fight in a clear attempt to literally game the system to duck followed by a rambling half incoherent diatribe about how he's just a regular dude ("hello fellow plebs!")

I mean the guy kissed the ass of Mexico and the US as much as his home country Georgia which is fine and all but in retrospect just seems like another sign that he's an opportunist.

I get it though, and he's a great fighter and athlete, but man any chance at having a popular persona for him has been tanked lol.

He’s trying to kiss Dana’s ass lol

I like Merab, I think he’s a good fighter and a hard worker.

He also seems like the type to let fame and fortune cloud his judgment.

Champ has to defend against the #1 contender should be mandatory.

 

[svmr_db]

Bryce Mitchell is top 15 too… what a dumb take by Umar (Ali).

Who said anything about top 15? Umar said top 5.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

I agree he should get paid.

That’s on Dana and the UFC though.

Merab’s responsibility as champ is to defend the belt against the best competitors who are next in line.

We need to end this era of fun fights, interim belts and other bullshit that makes no sense.

I like fun fights just as much as the next person but the champion has to defend against the #1 contender.

Wait until you lose to do “fun fights”. The division needs to move to give everyone a chance.

Yeah I agree. Champs shouldn’t feel the need to hold on to the belt in order to finally make good money. We want to see the best fight the best and umar is clearly that

 

[VinceArch]

if this fight isn't then one of them needs to face Figgy. He's been closing in on one as well.

 

[The Siege]

Umar actually has a point. Top only had one Top 5 win, but he also did beat Mitchell who was ranked #9 at the time. So, two Top 10 wins. Not much better than Umar's win against the #2 guy, but still two good wins. Was there an uproar on the dawg when Topuria got his TS? I don't remember.

 

[svmr_db]

Umar actually has a point. Top only had one Top 5 win, but he also did beat Mitchell who was ranked #9 at the time. So, two Top 10 wins. Not much better than Umar's win against the #2 guy, but still two good wins. Was there an uproar on the dawg when Topuria got his TS? I don't remember.

Well to be fair by the time Topuria got his shot Volkanovski was stacking up wins over the top 5, Holloway 3x, Ortega, Zombie, Rodriguez.. so they had to look lower and lower down the rankings for a fresh contender. Same idea as when Grasso got her first shot at the title vs Shevchenko.

 

[Striker Fox]

How is this even debatable

Beating Sandhagen is greater than beating Font and Vera

 

[HuskySamoan]

They do that in boxing a lot. Take a hard fight, then chill and take and easy fight or two. Can’t get away with that in mma.

Although I wish Merab could make some money winning a title defense and then losing the belt to Umar. Dude works hard and should get paid lol

I mean, you definitely CAN get away with that in MMA. We are seeing it more and more.

 

[Goutfather]

first off, yes topuria did get a rather fast-tracked shot. but this was in a division where the previous champ had beaten all the viable contenders at the time. there are other people in line at bw.

second, ilia had two ranked wins (mitchell and emmett), and a high profile win over ryan hall (then-highly regarded) who probably would have been ranked if it weren’t for his inactivity. compare that to umar’s win streak over literal nobodys. very different scenario.

umar and his fans might notice that nobody complained when merab got a title shot. that’s not because merab is super popular—he’s not, at all. but he earned it, and everyone knows it. that’s how it should be done.

 

[Rataria]

I didnt know Umar wuz slick like that tho

 

[fortheo]

Umar actually has a point. Top only had one Top 5 win, but he also did beat Mitchell who was ranked #9 at the time. So, two Top 10 wins. Not much better than Umar's win against the #2 guy, but still two good wins. Was there an uproar on the dawg when Topuria got his TS? I don't remember.

No, but the landscape of FW was different. Volk had already cleaned house and people were happy to finally have fresh blood in topuria, even if he didn't have a particularly difficult path to the top. Also, Topuria, unlike umar, was a finishing machine with great highlights.

 

[wrb]

Only one who did not do the "they don't deserve to fight me yet" bs recently is Belal lol. Its a bigger deal now when they say these things because moving weight classes is now a trivial thing that every champ seems to think they are entitled to do so whenever they want which can extend their champ status for a year. Merab, Tuporia, DDP all have interesting views on who they think is a worthy opponent.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Ali is right but I don't see a problem with making Umar wait 1 fight