After Aljamain Sterling lost to Mosvar Evloev, Merab got into another argument with a fan. 👀
#UFC310 pic.twitter.com/MBeKMmvQkZ
— InsideFighting (@InsideFighting_)
December 8, 2024
Merab Dvalishvili believes the altercation with a fan was orchestrated by future opponent Umar Nurmagomedov and his team.
Dvalishvili attended UFC 310 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. “The Machine” cornered his friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling, dropping a decision against Mokhsar Evloev on the preliminary card.
After the match, Dvalishvili got into an argument with a fan as he and Sterling walked backstage. The video shows the fan first grabbing Dvalishvili’s arm and recording it. Dvalishvili’s teammate Denis Buzkudya was then seen punching a fan while security restrained Dvalishvili. This is not the first time Dvalishvili has been involved in an incident of this kind, having confronted a spectator at the Craig Jones Invitational in Las Vegas in August of this year.
“He’s my mini.[Sean] Strickland was speechless,” UFC CEO Dana White said of Dvalishvili during the UFC 310 post-fight press conference. “What’s your occupation? Let’s get him to buy pay-per-views. I don’t know. I can’t keep fighting with the fans. I can do it. It costs a lot of money. I don’t know.
“I say it all the time. We’re in the fighting business. This stuff happens. We have to deal with it.”
However, Dvalishvili claims his recent altercation with a fan was orchestrated by his next opponent. The bantamweight champion shared a social media post providing video evidence showing the fans involved are friends of Nurmagomedov and his team. The video shows Usman Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov taking pictures with fans who heckled Dvalishvili on Saturday night. Dvalishvili is scheduled to fight Usman Nurmagomedov for the title at UFC 311 on January 18th at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California.
Dvalishvili wrote to X: “More lies, disrespect and deliberate provocation from Umar’s team. Here’s the real story…”
More lies, disrespect and deliberate provocation from Umar’s team. Here’s the real story… pic.twitter.com/btwTzJrC0D
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil)
December 8, 2024
Dvalishvili won the bantamweight title with a dominant unanimous decision win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in September of this year. He has consistently downplayed Nurmagomedov’s title claims, accusing the Dagestani of enjoying privileges due to his association with “The Eagle.” Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov is undefeated in 18 career fights, including six in the UFC, the biggest of which was against fellow top contender Cory Sandhagen in August of this year. That’s what I did.
