Merab Dvalishvil has retained his Bantamweight title belt in the co-main event of UFC 311 at the expense of Umar Nurmagomedov, the cousin of retired legendary fighter, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
34-year-old Dvaslishvil emerged victorious by unanimous points decision at the end of five rounds in California, recovering from a slow start against his 29-year-old opponent.
“I am the machine,” Dvalishvili said, adding that he had an infection in his leg before fight night. “Umar is a tough fighter and he’s good but he called me old. Yes, I’m old but I’m working every day. I’m a harder worker. The whole world was against me.”
The Georgian fighter scored 48-47 with two of the judges, and 49-46 with a third judge to improve his career record to 19 wins and four losses, while this was a first loss in 19 fights for Nurmagomedov.
In another fight at UFC 311, Czech fighter Jiri Prochazka defeated Jamahal Hill in a light-heavyweight contest between two former champions on the undercard in California.
Prochazka went on to call out reigning light-heavyweight title belt holder, Alex Pereira, for another fight between them. “I said it many times, maybe you will not believe me, but I want a third fight with Alex Pereira,” he declared.