UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and the man who will challenge for his title next, Umar Nurmagomedov, had to be separated backstage at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas ahead of the UFC 311 press conference on Friday.
That in itself would be newsworthy, but the pair then had to sit – well apart, it’s worth noting – on the same stage and field questions about their January 18 title fight in Los Angeles.
Footage of the incident can be seen below. Needless to say, things have gotten personal between the bantamweight pair.
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C’est CHAUD entre Merab Dvalishvili et Umar Nurmagomedov !!! pic.twitter.com/nPD2MgMgDL— RMC Sport Combat (@RMCSportCombat) December 6, 2024
“Of course it’s personal, because every time I see him, I give him my respect, I shake his hand, I even tell him I’m going to fight him one day. Now, he starts talk, trash talk online,” Dvalishvili told reporters on Friday. “Real men don’t do this. Okay, it’s personal for me.”
The plan, according to Dvalishvili, had been to fight Petr Yan, or perhaps rematch Sean O’Malley, before facing Umar later in the year. Instead, the UFC intervened, booking Dvalishvili vs. Nurmagomedov as the co-main event of UFC 311.
“I was gonna take my time, I was thinking to take six month period between my fights, and I was going to enjoy. And when Petr had a great fight against [Deiveson] Figueiredo, I was so excited, especially when he called me out. And since Umar wasn’t able to fight in March, I said ‘okay, let’s fight Petr Yan in March in Vegas.'”
Nurmagomedov has historically not fought during or close to Ramadan, a key holy period for followers of Islam. And so Dvalishvili instead planned for a fight with Umar in May. “But it flipped. Now I’m going to fight Umar. It’s going to be a tough fight. As a fighter, he’s a good fighter, but he don’t earn like everybody else. He don’t go through [the toughest competition]. You have to fight best of the best. Only he fought no-wrestling [Cory] Sandhagen. Yeah, he’s a good fighter but you have to fight everybody to prove… but I give people what they want, and I give UFC what they want. Let’s see. I like challenges.”
When it was suggested to Nurmagomedov that his title shot hadn’t been earned, as Dvalishvili had implied, Umar himself was dismissive. “Kai Asakura [is] fighting for the title,” he pointed out. Asakura, who debuts at UFC 310, will face Alexandre Pantoja for flyweight gold. “Who cares? Who about deserve, no deserve?”
“You have to be a man first,” Dvalishvili interjected. “I’m the man. I’m the man,” Nurmagomedov shot back.
What followed was Merab suggesting Umar had been gifted his title shot, and telling Nurmagomedov to be humble. Umar, meanwhile, appeared confused as to just what he had said to elicit the champ’s wrath.
“You’re the champion, everybody wants to fight with you. You’re a target, you take belt. If you don’t want everybody to want to fight you, leave the belt. I don’t care about you, Merab,” Umar Nurmagomedov insisted.
“Don’t talk personal. I had respect for you. I was always respectful to you. You have to be a man first,” an increasingly irate Dvalishvili replied. “F*ck this belt, f*ck the money, f*ck everything else. You have to be a man first. I don’t give a sh*t, okay? I don’t give a shit about belts. You have to give me as a man- I don’t do anything disrespectful as a man.”
If nothing else, the grudge match has the potential to turn into fireworks in the cage. Paired with Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan 2 for lightweight gold, the fight gives UFC 311 a very solid 1-2 punch atop the card.
