Merab Dvalishvili Beats Umar Nurmagomedov By Decision to Retain Title at UFC 311

Merab Dvalishvili proved the doubters wrong and successfully defended his UFC bantamweight championship with a unanimous decision win over Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event of UFC 311 from Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

Both Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov put on a fun first round. The champion and challenger came out of the gates swinging and established a frenetic pace. It was a big right hand from Nurmagomedov that drew the attention, though.

Dvalishvili earned his belt as a relentless wrestler, but that wasn't in his early game plan. The champion engaged with Nurmagomedov in a kickboxing match that saw him on the short end of more exchanges than not.

Dvalishvili's wrestling got a chance to shine in the third round. A more varied attack opened up opportunities for him to get the upperhand and he seemed to win the third round.

Dvalishvili's vaunted cardio took over as his biggest advantage in the fourth round. He overwhelmed an exhausted Nurmagomedov to take the penultimate round and set up a fifth-round that felt like it would crown a champion.

The champion punctuated his performance and showcased his gas tank by taking Nurmagomedov down late in the fifth round. The Machine looked like he could have fought for another few rounds after the bout:

Dvalishvili earned respect as a champion with the win. It's his first title defense since winning the title with a unanimous decision win over Sean O'Malley.

Dvalishvili didn't have much time to celebrate that victory. He was pushed to make his first title defense against the rising star in Nurmagomedov just four months after his landmark victory.

"Originally I wanted to come back in March after six months, especially after my title fight first time, and I wanted to enjoy it," Dvalishvili told reporters ahead of the fight. "... But once I hear the UFC needs me, I stepped up and Dana (White) said yes. I go to the office and I said, 'OK, I will step up. I'm a company man, let's do it."

The UFC didn't do the 34-year-old any favors pairing him up with the 29-year-old Nurmagomedov. His opponent was a perfect 18-0 heading into the fight with a lot of buzz as the next big thing in the division.

Nurmagomedov's cousin, Khabib Nurmagomedov, went 29-0 with three title defenses in his storied career. The unbeaten record isn't an accomplishment that Umar will now share with Khabib.

That doesn't mean that he won't become a champion eventually, though. This is really only his second fight against a top tier fighter in the bantamweight division. A unanimous decision win over Cory Sandhagen was really his first fight against a top fighter.

For now, he's not quite ready to be a champion. That distinction belongs to Dvalishvili. He might not have the well-known name and family, but he's proven himself as the top fighter in the division with a winning streak that now includes 12 wins in a row.