Sean O'Malley or Merab Dvalishvili? Khabib picks who he'd like Umar Nurmagomedov to fight for UFC title

Khabib Nurmagomedov hopes Umar Nurmagomedov ends up fighting Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight title.

Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who is Khabib’s cousin, emerged as No. 1 contender after defeating Cory Sandhagen in Saturday’s UFC on ABC 7 main event in Abu Dhabi. He awaits the winner of the title fight between bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC), which headlines UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.

“I want Merab, to be honest, because he’s from Georgia,” Nurmagomedov said in a UFC interview. “We are neighbors, Dagestan and Georgia. I want Merab to win because it’s going to be a very interesting fight. White papakha vs. black papakha. But if O’Malley wins, it’s going to be white papakha vs. pink papakha. It’s going to be good competition for O’Malley, a very good fight, high-level fight for all of the fans around the world.

“It’s not easy to beat Umar, and it’s not easy to beat Merab or Sean O’Malley. This is high level. Anything can happen, but in my opinion, Umar is ready. This fight put him one more level up, and we’ll see. He’s still growing, too. He’s still learning. He’s just 28 years old, and he’s still learning.”

Dvalishvili is on a 10-fight unbeaten streak – including wins over former champions Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo.

O’Malley knocked out Dvalishvili’s teammate, Aljamain Sterling, to become champion, then notched his first title defense with a battering of Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 7.