One of Merab Dvalishvili's recent rivals gave Umar Nurmagomedov some tips ahead of his UFC 311 co-main clash.
Umar Nurmagomedov gets his long-awaited UFC bantamweight title shot against division champion Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 311 co-main event. He returns to the Octagon after an impressive victory over Cory Sandhagen in his last fight at UFC Abu Dhabi, in which he showed a wide variety of striking.
Umar, the cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, has trained with a slew of top fighters in preparation for Dvalishvili's puzzle. Coming off an eleven-fight winning streak, Dvalishvili is proving to be a frustrating puzzle to solve, especially with his relentless wrestling and pace.
Before earning the UFC bantamweight championship against Sean O'Malley, Dvalishvili faced several former champions en route to the title. One of them gave Nurmagomedov some things to watch out for at UFC 311 after three rounds of experience against the champion.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Henry Cejudo advises Umar Nurmagomedov for the fight against Merab Dvalishvili
In a recent upload to his YouTube channel, Henry Cejudo gave Nurmagomedov three points ahead of his UFC bantamweight title challenge.
“The key for Umar is one: can he keep it in the middle of the Octagon and move laterally, against a guy who is looking for takedowns,” Cejudo said. “Look at my first lap and you'll see that. Two, use those kicks, those teep kicks to fake from the bottom, to make him hesitate with the takedowns.
“Conditioning. Is his conditioning ready for 'The Machine'? This man is on another level. I think we need 'And New!' going to hear.”
Cejudo lost to Dvalishvili by unanimous decision at UFC 298 last year in his second fight since returning from retirement. Dvalishvili defeated O'Malley just months later at UFC 306, ending an eleven-fight winning streak with an emphatic title-winning performance.
Cejudo will face Song Yadong in the UFC Seattle main event next month for his return. He is looking to snap a two-fight losing skid after defeats to Aljamain Sterling and Dvalishvili.
Umar Nurmagomedov looks set to become the latest Team Khabib champion
Nurmagomedov earned the title shot after wins over Sandhagen, Bekzat Almakhan and Raoni Barcelos on his way up the division ladder. His teammate, UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, will make his next title defense in the UFC 311 main event.
Nurmagomedov and Makhachev have the opportunity to take home two titles in Dagestan after UFC 311. The bantamweight title has changed hands multiple times over the past two years, and Nurmagomedov could potentially be the last newly crowned champion to kick off 2025.
Cejudo is a close ally of Team Khabib and falls under the same management umbrella as Nurmagomedov and Makhachev. Ahead of the biggest fight of his life, Nurmagomedov could potentially use some of Cejudo's approaches to win the bantamweight championship.
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