Merab Dvalishvili had a couple of reasons that he wanted to delay his first title defense until March but a lingering injury topped that list.
After defeating Sean O’Malley to become UFC champion this past September, the Georgian born bantamweight immediately turned his focus to 2025 with all signs pointing towards a showdown with Umar Nurmagomedov. Unfortunately Nurmagomedov wanted to fight sooner than later as he prepares to observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which goes from Feb.