“The UFC and Dana White offered me to head the tournament on May 13 against Merab and I agreed,” the Russian fighter wrote on the social network. “He has an injury and I wish him a speedy recovery, but I expect us to share a cage with him in June-July”
Umar Nurmagomedov, 27, is on a four-fight streak in the UFC, knocking out Raoni Barcelos in his last fight in the first round.
Merab Dvalishvili, 32, won his ninth straight win two weeks ago with a dominant unanimous decision over former division champion Petr Yan. The day before, the Georgian fighter made it clear that he was ready to share the octagon with Corey Sandhagen, who defeated Marlon Vera by split decision at UFC on ESPN 43 in San Antonio.