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Merab Dvalishvili explains why he slapped Umar Nurmagomedov’s friend

Published

2 months ago

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Merab Dvalishvili explains why he slapped Umar Nurmagomedov’s friend
Merab
Dvalishvili recently opened up about his backstage altercation
at RAF Georgia.

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.


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MMA

Alex Pereira says Josh Hokit would be much easier fight than Sergei Pavlovich

Published

6 hours ago

on

October 25, 2026

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Alex Pereira says Josh Hokit would be 'much easier' fight than Sergei Pavlovich
Alex
Pereira has explained his frustration with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight matchmaking.

Pereira (13-4) is scheduled to face Sergei
Pavlovich (21-3) at UFC
335 on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Meanwhile,
Josh
Hokit (10-0) will face Ciryl Gane
(14-2) for the heavyweight title at UFC
334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Pereira said he initially expected either a rematch with Gane or a
grudge match against Hokit, but he sees the Pavlovich booking as a
favorable stylistic matchup.

Alex Pereira explains UFC matchmaking frustration and why
Sergei Pavlovich is more dangerous than Josh Hokit

Pereira lost his UFC heavyweight debut to Gane by technical
knockout in an interim title bout at
UFC Freedom 250. After Tom
Aspinall relinquished the undisputed championship, Pereira said
the promotion discussed a title rematch with Gane or a fight
against Hokit, who has repeatedly criticized “Poatan.â€

Pereira considers Hokit an easier opponent than Pavlovich.
Nevertheless, he said a conversation with UFC executive Hunter
Campbell resolved his frustration, and he now looks forward to the
December bout.

“What got me more upset at that time was because they told me that
I was possibly going to fight Gane for the belt or fight Hokit,â€
Pereira told Ariel Helwani. “And then none of that happened. Coming
from a loss, fighting Hokit would be much, much easier for me than
fighting Pavlovich, who’s supposed to be a harder fight. Hokit
would be a much easier fight for me. We got together [with Hunter
Campbell], we talked, we straightened things out, so it was fine.
Pavlovich is a little more dangerous opponent, but looking at it in
a technical way today, I see that it’s actually also a very good
fight for me.â€

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MMA

Islam Makhachev reveals why he turned down January fight with Carlos Prates

Published

8 hours ago

on

October 25, 2026

By

Islam Makhachev reveals why he turned down January fight with Carlos Prates

Islam Makhachev has spoken up about why he's not fighting Carlos Prates in January.

For the last few weeks, the MMA world has been flooded with rumors that Makhachev would defend his welterweight title against Prates at UFC 336 in January; however, on Saturday, the UFC announced that those rumors are untrue. Instead, Prates will take on Michael Morales for an interim welterweight title at UFC 336, with the winner unifying against Makhachev sometime next year.

“Prates and Morales will fight, determine who a true worthy contender, and I will fight [the winner]. They will [fight] among themselves. …

“They offered me a fight with Prates, who recently lost to a [Ian Machado Garry] who I beat. If I beat him, Morales would already be next in line, who's not fighting and waiting for [a title shot]. Just let them fight and we will figure out who is the real challenger.â€

Ramadan begins on Feb. 7 and concludes on March 8 in 2027, meaning it is unlikely we will see Makhachev again until next summer.

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MMA

Carlos Prates blasts ‘coward’ Islam Makhachev for UFC 336 withdrawal, vows to retire him

Published

18 hours ago

on

October 25, 2026

By

Carlos Prates blasts ‘coward’ Islam Makhachev for UFC 336 withdrawal, vows to retire him

Carlos Prates put Islam Makhachev on blast after the UFC announced his fight with Michael Morales for the interim belt on Jan. 30.

“The Nightmare†was in talks with the promotion to book a UFC 336 clash with the welterweight champion in Toronto, Canada, but will now face Morales after the Russian informed the UFC he wouldn't be ready to fight on that date.

Prates took to social media after UFC's official announcement on Saturday to criticize the champion.

“Islam Makhachev, I've been working toward my dream of becoming a champion for 17 years, and now you've postponed that,†Prates wrote in Portuguese. “I'm the No. 1. I knocked out two former champions, while Morales has only beaten Sean Brady.

“You told the UFC you wouldn't be ready to fight in three months. Brother, you don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't party, and you can't get ready for a fight in three months? Let me show you how it's done. On January 30, I'm going to knock out Michael Morales, and then I'll be back to retire you, you coward!â€

Prates is on a three-fight winning streak in the UFC, all by knockout, and has finished his opponents in all seven octagon victories. Morales, on the other hand, is unbeaten as a professional with 19 straight victories, seven of those under the UFC banner.

Makhachev took a shot at Prates by pointing out the fact he has recently beat Ian Machado Garry, the only man to defeat the Brazilian in the UFC.

“I just beat the guy who chased you around the octagon for five rounds,†Makhachev wrote. “Shut up and go train. You're not on my level. See you soon. #maybeâ€

“As soon as we find out who the real contender is, we'll be right back,†he added in separate tweets. “We have to now who is better who deserve.â€

UFC 336 will take place at the Scotiabank Arena and feature Joshua Van's flyweight title defense against Manel Kape as the headliner.

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