A pair of title contenders are going to be very happy to hear Dana White’s comments after UFC 308.
Starting with undefeated bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov, who has been anxiously awaiting word on his title shot against Merab Dvalishvili amid calls from the champion for an immediate rematch with Sean O’Malley. While Dvalishvili made claims that Nurmagomedov was “scared” and didn’t deserve a title shot, the UFC CEO seems to disagree.
When asked about Dvalishvili’s comments, White cemented Nurmagomedov as the No. 1 contender while stating “absolutely” that’s the fight the UFC wants next.
As far as Dvalishvili hinting at other options, most notably his constant calls for a second fight against O’Malley, White also shut that down by answering “Umar” when addressing immediate plans for the bantamweight title.
White also dealt with the recent rumors that Nurmagomedov was actually working towards a fight against Song Yadong after learning that Dvalishvili wouldn’t be ready to compete again until March. That month represents the start of Ramadan and Nurmagomedov has stated that he doesn’t want to compete during the holy month when Muslims fast from dawn until sunset every day.
“Did we announce it?” White said about Nurmagomedov vs. Song. “Then no [it’s not official].”
A few weight classes higher, White also responded to inquiries about Magomed Ankalaev finally earning his long awaited title shot against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
On Saturday, Ankalaev extended his unbeaten streak to 13 straight with a unanimous decision win over Aleksandar Rakic. Ankalaev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz previously told MMA Fighting that as long as the Russian handled his business at UFC 308, then he expected a title shot would be next.
Now White is backing up those plans after watching Ankalaev’s performance on Saturday.
“He looked good,” White said about Ankalaev. “He absolutely looked great. I would have to say yes [he gets his title shot].”
With Ankalaev and Nurmagomedov in place as challengers, Pereira and Dvalishvili can respectively start planning for the future once the UFC schedule starts coming together for 2025.
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