If anyone, it would have been Umar Nurmagomedov who could have challenged Khabib’s 29-0 record. And UFC 311 would have been his opportunity to pick his 19th consecutive win. As the Dagestani faced Merab Dvalishvili both men were two rounds apiece going into the fifth and final one.
Nurmagomedov clearly won the first two, showcasing every bit of his dynamic and crisp striking as well as some pretty good takedown defense. But as the fight progressed, the inexhaustible Dvalishvili lived up to his moniker, ‘The Machine’, and kept up a quick pace, which exhausted his opponent.
As the fight went into the championship rounds, Dvalishvili showed just why he was the champion and started playing with the clearly tired ‘Young Eagle’ as Khabib Nurmagomedov could only watch helplessly from the corner.
The dire predicament Nurmagomedov found himself in was perfectly described by Daniel Cormier observing “I’ve never seen him like this” and “It’s new for him (Khabib) to see his star pupil like this” from the commentary box. In the end, Dvalishvili won by a unanimous decision, but Nurmagomedov, who is still pretty young, did show he belongs at the highest level, even if he came up a bit short tonight.
He stuffed more than 20 takedowns in this fight. Put it this way: there were around 45 takedown attempts and less than four minutes of control time in this fight. That’s how much both fighters kept their pace and takedown defense up. Merab Dvalishvili even broke Georges St-Pierre’s UFC record of 90 takedowns in this bout.
Further, Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov broke each other’s streak of not getting taken down for consecutive bouts. Regardless, though Khabib Nurmagomedov looked helpless standing outside the cage, watching his cousin slow down, he made sure to shake Dvalishvili’s hand after the bout was done.
So where exactly did the 34-year-old have the edge?
Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz shared images of his fighter’s broken hand after the bout. Apparently, ‘Young Eagle’ had a clipped wing right from the first round. And Dvalishvili was too much to handle after the second. In the final round, the Georgian landed takedowns and a right hand to get the nod on the judges’ scorecards. All three of them had it in favor of ‘The Machine’ (48-47, 48-47, 49-46), giving him rounds three, four, and five.
SHOWBOATING IN STYLE 🤩 #UFC311 pic.twitter.com/uqZ7HVlaK3
— UFC (@ufc) January 19, 2025
Needless to say, Dvalishvili made his home country of Georgia incredibly proud, with some astute observers even saying that Georgia may be the new Dagestan. Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who also originally hails from Georgia, was ecstatic at Davlishvili’s victory and took to social media and expressed appreciation for ‘The Machine’.
“Merab, my bother, what a fighter you are! You make us feel us so proud. This is what happens when Dagestani wrestling meets Georgian wrestling,” ‘El Matador’ wrote, perhaps taking a shot at Islam Makhachev, whom he wants to fight and has promised to submit.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, needless to say, was devastated. It is not often that he is in the losing corner, but Dvalishvili was just too good. Of course, Dvalishvili’s victory raises one important question: What next for the champ?
Who could be Merab Dvalishvili’s next opponent after a fantastic UFC 311 victory?
Merab Dvalishvili has a few options available to him for his second title defense. The first and probably most likely option is a rematch with Sean O’Malley. ‘The Machine’ took the title off of ‘Suga’ in even more dominant fashion at the iconic UFC 306 ‘Sphere’ card last year. The champ, in fact, wanted to do the rematch for his first title defense before he came around to Nurmagomedov.
But the thing is that Dvalishvili’s grappling was way too good for ‘Suga’ the last time around. It is unclear if the rainbow-haired striker has improved enough to want that fight right now.
Other than that, there are slim pickings for the Georgian at the moment. #3 ranked former champ Petr Yan is the only other top-ranked guy who has a case to fight for the title next. “Congratulations machine @MerabDvalishvil that was impressive. Can’t wait to run it back with you 👊🏼,” he wrote on X after the Georgian’s victory.
There is also the possibility that the winner of Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong next month could also be considered. In fact, if Yadong wins, that would probably make him the front-runner. After all, the other fighters we have talked about have all fought and lost to ‘The Machine’ already.
With the win, Dvalishvili is tied at #5 for most wins in UFC bantamweight history with 11. He earned a disclosed purse of $500K (no win bonus) and a performance bonus of $50K. Who would you like to see Dvalishvili fight next?