Top UFC title contender picks Umar Nurmagomedov to dethrone Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311: ‘People don’t really realize just how fast that guy is’

One top-ranked UFC bantamweight doesn’t believe Merab Dvalishvili will get past Umar Nurmagomedov.

Dvalishvili will put the 135-pound gold at stake when he meets Nurmagomedov at the UFC 311 pay-per-view on January 18th. The bout will be held inside the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA. It’ll be the UFC 311 co-main event. Nurmagomedov is hoping to secure UFC gold before his teammate Islam Makhachev defends his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event.

As it stands now, Nurmagomedov is the betting favorite to dethrone Dvalishvili and one highly-rated contender is in agreement.

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Cory Sandhagen Predicts Umar Nurmagomedov Topples Merab Dvalishvili

Speaking to James Lynch for Middle Easy, Cory Sandhagen explained why he believes Umar Nurmagomedov will get the better of Merab Dvalishvili in early 2025 (h/t MMAJunkie.com).

“I think that Umar probably will win,” Sandhagen told Middle Easy. “I just can’t really see a path for Merab to win, I don’t think that he’s going to be able to strike with him, but I also don’t think that he’ll be able to take him down and control him like he was able to do against O’Malley and against other guys. I just don’t really see a path to success for Merab, I think Umar is likely going to defend a lot of those shots, keep it in the striking realm, and just kind of – Umar’s a sniper, man.

“People don’t really realize just how fast that guy is and how good he is and how his kicks come out of nowhere. Fighting a guy like Merab will be a good opportunity for him to show off a little bit and just because Merab’s been talking a lot of sh*t, I kind of want to watch Merab get served up a little bit by a guy who is supposed to be a wrestler but wasn’t able to wrestle me, but Merab’s still saying that I was a gift and stuff. So, I’m on Team Umar now.”

Sandhagen’s last bout was against Nurmagomedov back in August. He lost the fight via unanimous decision, which put his three-fight winning streak to an end.

Nurmagomedov enters his title fight against Dvalishvili with a perfect 18-0 record. Can he make the most of his first UFC championship opportunity?