Umar Nurmagomedov is set to make his return at UFC 321 on October 25th in Abu Dhabi where he’ll take on surging bantamweight Mario Bautista. But always in his mind is a quest to take ‘revenge’ on 135 pound champion Merab Dvalishvili.
Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili fought at the start of 2025, with Dvalishvili walking away with a 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46 unanimous decision. Nurmagomedov walked away with a badly broken hand, and will make his first appearance since January on the October card.
In a new
interview with MMA Junkie, the Dagestani fighter revealed he was hoping for a rematch against “The Machine” with a win over Bautista … even if Merab loses to Petr Yan at UFC 323 in December.
“If I will choose [between a title fight and rematch with Dvalishvili], maybe revenge I want more,” Umar said. “We’ll see. Maybe he’s going to take some rest after this fight. It’s his fourth fight of the year. It’s not easy. We’ll see what happens after our fights.”
One thing is for sure, though: Nurmagomedov wants to fight again before Ramadan kicks off in mid-February, shutting down training camps for many Muslim fighters.
“I want to fight in January or February,” he said. “I don’t want to wait for anybody. It’s going to depend on what the UFC says.”
“He has to want to destroy me,” Umar said of Merab. “And he has to try, and he has to talk about that. He can’t say, ‘I will not fight with him, I’m scared. I don’t want to give him a chance.’ He can’t talk like this. It’s not champion’s style. He has to talk that he’s going to destroy me. We’ll have to see.”
For his part, Nurmagomedov plans on making his case in the press.
“I can talk whatever I want, and what? Anybody can talk.”
Dvalishvili already cut through a large portion of the best bantamweights in the division, and Umar Nurmagomedov had the most success against him despite breaking his hand badly in the first round. Considering how often Dvalishvili hopes to fight, there are few better candidates for a title defense in 2026 than Nurmagomedov.
Now all Umar has to do is get past Mario Bautista at UFC 321, no small task considering Bautista’s 8-fight winning streak over the past four years.
