Rodrigues extended his win streak in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship to four with his decision win
over Hernandez at
UFC Sacramento. “Fluffy†later accused the Brazilian of
repeatedly grabbing the inside of his gloves and Rodrigues has now
responded.

Rodrigues responds to Anthony Hernandez's accusations after
their UFC Sacramento main event

Rodrigues did extensive damage to Hernandez's lead leg with calf
kicks, but the latter showed immense heart by continuing to
pressure forward. However, Rodrigues inflicted damage while
defending takedowns as well. At the post-fight presser, Hernandez
accused “Robocop†of grabbing his gloves in the wrestling exchanges
and claimed to have repeatedly complained to referee Herb Dean to no
avail.

Rodrigues denies the accusations and says that Hernandez also knows
that he didn't cheat. He argues that the referee would've
intervened if he was blatantly cheating and it would also be seen
on camera. While Rodrigues admits that he might have
unintentionally grabbed Hernandez's gloves, he believes he did
nothing illegal that changed the outcome of the fight.

“You can say whatever you want,†Rodrigues told Ariel Helwani. “The
fact is that I beat him with the leg kicks. I punched him. He
didn’t take me down. He didn’t do nothing. He put a pressure that
was good, but I didn’t cheat him; he knows that… If that was clear,
probably Herb Dean would probably say something or everyone’s gonna
see it on the TV. Sometimes, involuntary, my hands grab his gloves,
but it was nothing that would change the result of the fight. But
I'm still the same. A lot of respect for him. I know he's a
warrior.â€

Dvalishvili defeated fellow former
Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Henry
Cejudo in a wrestling match at RAF Georgia in July. He later
shut down talks of a potential wrestling match against Umar
Nurmagomedov in strong words. Nurmagomedov's friend, Ahmed
Gadzhimagomedov, then approached Dvalishvili and confronted him
about his comments.

Dvalishvili responded by slapping Gadzhimagomedov, leading to an
all-out brawl.

Dvalishvili says Ahmed Gadzhimagomedov grabbed him by the neck
before the RAF Georgia brawl

Dvalishvili says he was relaxing backstage when Gadzhimagomedov
grabbed him by the neck and loudly confronted him in Russian. While
“The Machine†barely understands Russian, he knew Gadzhimagomedov
was talking about Nurmagomedov.

Dvalishvili defends his action, saying Gadzhimagomedov had no
business meddling in the feud between him and Nurmagomedov. The
former UFC bantamweight titleholder also doubled down on his
dislike for Nurmagomedov and his manager Rizvan Magomedov for
allegedly insulting him on social media.

“I was super relaxed, super chilled and then somebody came and
grabbed my neck and pulled me over and started yelling at me in
Russian language, which I hardly understand,†Dvalishvili told
Ariel Helwani. “And he mentioned Umar. It took me a couple of
seconds to realize, ‘Who is this guy to tell me what to talk about
him? It's between me and Umar… I have so much respect for all
Dagestani people, especially fighters. The only guy who I don’t
like from Dagestan is Umar and his sneaky manager, Rizvan. The guy
who was helping Umar disrespect me on X and Threads.â€

Dvalishvili was initially hesitant to face Nurmagomedov in his
first bantamweight title defense, questioning whether the latter
deserved a title shot. They eventually locked horns at
UFC 311 in Los Angeles, where Dvalishvili handed the Dagestani
his lone professional loss, but the bitterness between the two
still persists.

Dvalishvili went on to defend his belt two more times before losing
it in his rematch with Petr Yan and
their trilogy bout is set for
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov picked up two wins after losing to
Dvalishvili and is set to take on Yadong Song
next at
UFC Shanghai.

Makhachev (29-1) defended his
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title for the first
time with a unanimous decision win over Ian Garry at
UFC
330. Makhachev's team raised the Russian flag inside the
Octagon while he was being declared the winner, drawing the ire of
Dvalishvili.

Makhachev says Dvalishvili has never been happy about his
success ahead of Yan-Dvalishvili III

Dvalishvili (21-5) was clearly unhappy to see the Russian flag
raised in the Octagon. “The Machine†claims it is unfair, as he is
allegedly not allowed to raise the Georgian flag after wins.
Dvalishvili also argues that the Russian flag is banned from most
sporting events due to the ongoing war with Ukraine.

Responding to Dvalishvili, Makhachev says that the former UFC
bantamweight champion has never been happy to see him succeed.
Makhachev notes that Petr Yan
raised the Russian flag after dethroning Dvalishvili last
December.

Yan is scheduled to defend his title in a trilogy fight against
Dvalishvili at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. Makhachev hopes his countryman
defeats Dvalishvili again and raises the Russian flag to shut him
up for good.

“From the very beginning, he wasn't happy about my success in the
Octagon,†Makhachev said at a recent press conference. “But I don't
pay attention to those things. He’s already spoken about this many
times. But Petr Yan beat him and raised the flag in the Octagon. I
think [Yan] will beat him again now and silence him for good.â€