"He had a chance to hurt me" - Umar Nurmagomedov says Merab Dvalishvili’s threat only fuels him ahead of rematch

Umar Nurmagomedov recently shared his thoughts on a potential Merab Dvalishvili rematch. The UFC bantamweight star also responded to Dvalishvili's recent comments about hurting him if and when they run it back in the cage.

In their previous encounter at UFC 311 in January, Dvalishvili managed to outpoint Nurmagomedov over five rounds and won the fight via unanimous decision. In the aftermath, Nurmagomedov revealed that he was carrying an injury going into the fight and wanted to rematch Dvalishvili when his health wasn't compromised.

Nurmagomedov is now set to face Mario Bautista at UFC 321 this weekend, with a potential rematch against Dvalishvili on the cards if he picks up a statement win. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili is booked for a Petr Yan rematch at UFC 323 in December. Ahead of his fourth title defense in a calendar year, 'The Machine' addressed a potential Nurmagomedov rematch and vowed to "break him" this time.

In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Nurmagomedov responded to Dvalishvili's comments and said:

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"When I saw this, I felt nice. You have to be in this mood because I hope you're gonna take the fight again. He had a chance to hurt me, but why didn't it happen? We'll see, but I like his mood, and if he'll try to do this, I'm gonna show him who's gonna be hurt."

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Merab Dvalishvili previews Umar Nurmagomedov rematch

Merab Dvalishvili recently shared his two cents on fighting Umar Nurmagomedov again and shared an honest preview for their potential rematch. The reigning bantamweight champion vowed to beat Nurmagomedov again in dominant fashion.

In an interview (via @ChampRDS on X), Dvalishvili was asked for his thoughts on a potential rematch with Nurmagomedov. He replied:

"If I have to fight Umar Nurmagomedov next, I'm confident I'll break him this time and beat him clean. Our last fight wasn't like that. I was controlling things and won without taking unnecessary risks or headaches, but I won't let him off so easily in the octagon next time... I'll break him in the first 1.5 minutes and then drag him around the octagon for the remaining 23.5 minutes like a sack... Even after losing, he didn't learn his lesson."

Edited by Nishant Zende.