He soundly beat Sterling. which I imagine Merab values a lot more than a win over Sandhagen. We are to talking about his current resume, not what he did to get his initial shot. Merab wasn't champ when he got his initial shot.
Yes, he is ttying to get a payday, I very much doubt he thinks he will lose to Umar afterwards though.
Also, fighers don't rob other fighters of a decision. The judges do that. But that rethoric is common by fans who get too caught up in the emotional drama of the sport.
He dominated in the grappling, but he didn't actually do too much when it came to scoring through damage, the thing fights should be scored by according to the official scoring criteria.