Umar Nurmagomedov wants Merab Dvalishvili to back up his words before UFC 311.

As fight week for the first numbered event of the year looms, Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) continue to show signs of friction going into the Jan. 18 bantamweight title bout at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).

Dvalishvili begrudgingly accepted the undefeated Nurmagomedov as his first challenger after claiming the belt from Sean O'Malley in September, but he has made it no secret that he thinks it's undeserved and only a product of family lineage. Even this week, Dvalishvili dubbed Nurmagomedov as "a spoiled little baby" and vowed to hand him his first loss.

For Nurmagomedov, none of it is personal, and he's not looking to get petty with any exchange of words.

"A lot of people around the world can just talk," Nurmagomedov told MMA Junkie on Thursday. "For me, I just want to take his belt, and if this guy have something (bad) with me personally, he'll have to do something. I will close all questions in the cage, and after that, we'll see what he's going to do."

The words did fly in a fast and furious manner the last time the champ and challenger shared the same physical space. They were restrained backstage prior to a promotional on-sale press conference in December, then had a lot to say to each other on stage.

Nurmagomedov, 29, will share a platform with Dvalishvili, 33, again roughly 48 hours prior to the event at Thursday's pre-fight press conference. He's not sure what type of reaction that will bring, but Dvalishvili spent much of the first encounter claiming Nurmagomedov was unworthy and had talked down on him and his country.

If Dvalishvili chooses to go down that road again, then Nurmagomedov dares him to bring evidence to support any and all claims.

"What he's talking, I think he will (try to) prove it," Nurmagomedov said. "When he's talking (about) I am disrespecting his country, I want him to show. Not just talk. If you're talking something, please show it."

No matter how much talking or lack there of happens before fight night, Nurmagomedov, No. 5 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie bantamweight rankings, said nothing is going to change what he thinks is an inevitable outcome for No. 1-ranked Dvalishvili at UFC 311.

"In a fight, anything can happen," Nurmagomedov said. "I can't tell you, 'This is not going to happen, never, ever.' But this guy will not beat me. Never, ever. I can tell you this one. I don't know about takedowns or something else, but he will be never beat me. He don't have skills to beat me."

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 311.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Umar Nurmagomedov issues UFC 311 press conference challenge to Merab Dvalishvili