Merab Dvalishvili reportedly marched into the UFC’s head office to demand a fight with Umar Nurmagomedov, leading to Wednesday’s announcement that the pair will clash in January.
Nurmagomedov’s impressive win over Cory Sandhagen in August made him the likely next challenger for the title, which Dvalishvili then took from Sean O’Malley with a dominant display in September.