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Merab Dvalishvili responds to Umar Nurmagomedov jab: ‘You guys are little people’

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17 hours ago

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Merab Dvalishvili responds to Umar Nurmagomedov jab: ‘You guys are little people’

Merab Dvalishvili is giving his side of the story in response to Umar Nurmagomedov calling him out for an incident that occurred at RAF Georgia.

This past July, Dvalishvili found himself in a scuffle with a friend of Nurmagomedov's that occurred at a pre-fight press conference when the friend confronted Dvalishvili for dismissing the possibility of a wrestling match with Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov previously fought at UFC 311 in January 2025, when Dvalishvili scored a thrilling decision win to successfully defend his bantamweight title.

Nurmagomedv recently spoke on the RAF Georgia altercation, asking “How do you live with that?†in regards to Dvalishvili's behavior. On Tuesday, Dvalishvili fired back.

“Umar and some small people keep talking trash about me,†Dvalishvili said via a social media video. “You guys probably don't know anything about life, but I am a man, and if you come to me, pulling me over, disrespect me, start loud talk with me in a different language, I will slap your face. Because that's who I am. That's how I grew up. That's my culture and that's what you're going to get.

“So it doesn't matter if I am in U.S., if I am in Mexico, in Australia, or in my country Georgia. If you come with bad intentions, you're going to get bad intentions.â€

In the clip of the confrontation that went viral, Dvalishvili appeared to slap a fan, later identified as a friend of Nurmagomedov's named Ahmad. Dvalishvili didn't deny initiating the physicality, explaining that his actions were a consequence of the manner in which he was approached and his Georgian upbringing.

He warned Nurmagomedov and company that the incident could have been a lot worse under different circumstances.

“After that incident happened, of course I realized I was in Georgia and especially I realized after, all the teenagers, all the Georgian kids from Tbilisi wanted to fight,†Dvalishvili said. “All my friends want to fight. That could happen really bad because let's say 200 guests from different countries, we are three or four million people in my country, and even if 50,000 kids show up in the street, we all imagine what could happen.

“That's why I find a guy who I got an accident with and I shake his hand and everything is done and we are cool. But you guys, small people, keep talking about you guys trying to provocate [sic], you guys wasn't there, you guys don't know what happened. So stop this trash talk, stop this nonsense talking and you guys are little people. You guys have to learn life. Peace everybody, let's go.â€

Dvalishvili closed out his video message commenting on a different rival, Petr Yan. The two are currently tied in their series with Dvalishvili defeating Yan in their first meeting in 2023, and Yan ending Dvalishvili's bantamweight title reign this past December at UFC 323. All signs point to the fighters meeting in a trilogy bout later this year and Dvalishvili is just waiting for it to become official.

“Hopefully Petr will sign the contract,†Dvalishvili said. “I'm waiting for UFC announcement, waiting for when Petr will sign the contract, and UFC knows I've been ready since springtime and hopefully our trilogy fight happens soon. If later, I'm waiting patiently.â€

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MMA

Mackenzie Dern pushes back on Ian Garry’s comments about women

Published

1 hour ago

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August 13, 2026

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Mackenzie Dern pushes back on Ian Garry’s comments about women
While Mackenzie
Dern is a strong, independent woman, she prefers her man
running the show.

Dern puts her
Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight title on the line
against Gillian
Robertson in the co-main event of UFC
330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Ahead
of the event, Dern addressed headliner Ian Garry's
recent comments about women running the world.

Mackenzie Dern discusses traditional relationships before her
UFC 330 title defense

Garry recently drew a variety of reactions from fans and fellow
fighters for saying that the world would be a better place if women
ran everything. However, the UFC women's strawweight champion
disagrees with Garry. Dern says that while women in her family are
strong, she comes from a traditional background. Dern likes being
protected and cared for by her man, though she wouldn't hesitate to
go to war alongside him if needed.

“I come from a little bit more traditional upbringing,†Dern said
at UFC 330 media day. “Obviously, the women in my family are super
strong and independent. And they taught me how to be a strong
woman. But I like the guy protecting, leading and doing that stuff.
And I like to just relax. If I need to go to war with him, I will.
But I'm a mommy. I think it's very good that we're strong women and
we don't depend on guys. But I like the man taking the lead.â€

Dern looks to defend her title for the first time since winning it
last year, while Garry challenges Islam
Makhachev for the welterweight championship, looking to snap
the Dagestani's historic win streak.

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MMA

Ian Garry accuses Islam Makhachev of wearing heels at face-off

Published

3 hours ago

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August 13, 2026

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Ian Garry accuses Islam Makhachev of wearing heels at face-off
Ian
Garry believes Islam
Makhachev is significantly shorter than he is, despite the
minimal height difference at their first face-off.

Garry (17-1) is set to challenge Makhachev (28-1) for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title at UFC
330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. At
6-foot-3 tall, Garry officially has a 5-inch height advantage over
Makhachev. However, they were nearly eye-to-eye when they faced off
for the first time in front of the iconic Rocky statue in
Philly.

Ian Garry addresses lack of height difference in first face-off
with Islam Makhachev

Garry claims Makhachev was wearing high heels to nullify the height
difference. The Irishman is sure that he'll be significantly taller
during the ceremonial weigh-in face-offs, where they both have to
wear the same type of shoes.

“He was wearing high heels,†Garry said in an interview with
Paramount+. “He was wearing stilettos. Wait till you see Friday
night when we're both wearing the same shoes… Because we're
obligated to wear the same shoes.â€

Makhachev refuted Garry's accusations, claiming to have worn
regular shoes during the face-off. The Dagestani champion also says
that he has grown bigger since the UFC first recorded his official
height at 5-foot-10 before his Octagon debut in 2015.

“It's regular shoes, nothing special,†Makhachev said. “And that
number which I have right now is because UFC check my [height] when
I debuted 10-11 years ago. UFC have to check again. I have become
big right now. I'm welterweight, no more lightweight.â€


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MMA

Ian Garry sensed ‘nervous energy’ from Islam Makhachev at first face-off

Published

6 hours ago

on

August 12, 2026

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Ian Garry sensed ‘nervous energy’ from Islam Makhachev at first face-off
Ian
Garry felt like Islam
Makhachev didn't want to be at their first face-off.

Makhachev (28-1) defends his
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title against Garry
(17-1) at UFC
330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Makhachev and Garry recently faced off for the first time in front
of the iconic Rocky statue in Philly, where the challenger
perceived nerves on the champ's part.

Ian Garry on face-off with Islam Makhachev: ‘He didn't want to
be there'

Garry claims to have felt some “nervous energy†from the Dagestani
champion. However, he also admitted that it was an unofficial
face-off and the one that actually matters is the official one at
the ceremonial weigh-ins, after they've made weight.

“I just kind of felt like yesterday he didn't want to be there,â€
Garry said at UFC 330 media day. “He didn't want to be at the
face-off. I sensed a little bit of nervous energy from him. But
they are face-offs; they are fake, they are for social media, they
are for Instagram, they are for obligations. They're not for us.
The face-off that matters to me is Friday, when we've made weight,
when we've done all the hard work, we show up in front of fans and
it's the last time we get to look at each other before we meet in
the Octagon.â€

Meanwhile, Makhachev seemed completely unfazed by Garry's
perception. The Russian says this is the second time in his career
that he is enjoying every moment of fight week.

“I’m not nervous,†Makhachev said at media day. “This is like my
second fight week in my life where I enjoying every moment.â€


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