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

Published

3 weeks 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

Justin Gaethje wants Conor McGregor next: ‘Fun to shut him up’

Published

9 minutes ago

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September 3, 2026

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Justin Gaethje wants Conor McGregor next: ‘Fun to shut him up’
Justin
Gaethje has revealed that a showdown with Conor
McGregor is his top choice for his next bout.

Gaethje, who won the
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title by beating
Ilia
Topuria at
UFC Freedom 250, prefers the McGregor matchup over getting
revenge against Max
Holloway and Charles
Oliveira.

Justin Gaethje favors Conor McGregor over rematches with Max
Holloway and Charles Oliveira

In a recent interview, Gaethje explained why he has little interest
in revisiting fights with Holloway and Oliveira, who previously
finished him in title bouts. Holloway scored a buzzer-beater KO
against Gaethje at UFC
300 to win the BMF title, while Oliveira submitted him in his
second attempt at undisputed lightweight gold.

Nevertheless, with Topuria finishing both “Blessed†and “do
Bronxs,†Gaethje isn't interested in rematches. Rather, he's eyeing
a bout with former two-division champ McGregor.

“Damn, there's really no one,†Gaethje said. “It would have been
Oliveira or Holloway, but since Topuria beat them, I'm going to go
ahead and justify it to myself like I got them back. So, I guess
McGregor. Fun to shut him up.â€

McGregor returned to the Octagon following a five-year hiatus to
face Holloway at
UFC 329, but the fight ended in little over a minute as the
Irishman suffered a knee injury, prompting an anticlimactic referee
stoppage. With one fight left on his current contract, he's
targeting his final UFC bout for the summer of 2027.

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MMA

Eddie Hearn draws Dana White line in Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua talks

Published

1 hour ago

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September 3, 2026

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Eddie Hearn draws Dana White line in Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua talks
Eddie Hearn is standing firm amid the ongoing Tyson
Fury-Anthony
Joshua saga.

Hearn has pushed back after Dana
White recently addressed the ongoing discourse surrounding the
heavyweight matchup. The head of Matchroom Boxing discussed the
involvement of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO and Zuffa Boxing in putting
together the fight and clarified Joshua's stance on the same.

Anthony Joshua’s stance on Dana White and Zuffa Boxing
complicates Tyson Fury fight talks

Hearn was asked about the highly anticipated Fury-Joshua bout after
the Katie Taylor vs. Flora Pili press conference in Dublin,
Ireland, and reiterated that, as per Joshua's contract, there's no
need for Zuffa to get involved.

“No, or else there will be no fight and we'll just keep going,â€
Hearn said at a media scrum captured by Bloody Elbow. “You have to
understand, right? AJ is one of my closest friends; AJ is a
shareholder of Matchroom. So, I know the narrative run by Tyson
Fury is, ‘Oh, Eddie's ego…' No, no, no. We are a team, and AJ will
say to me, ‘Why are they involved?' I said, ‘Exactly, so are you OK
with them not being involved?' He says, ‘Yeah.'â€

Hearn also insists that the exclusion of White and TKO is not
simply his personal preference.

“So, the responses in the addendum are not ‘Eddie Hearn's wishes';
they're Anthony Joshua's wishes,†Hearn added. “The addendum
doesn't have to include ‘still no Dana' because that is in the
original contract. The addendum is just changes.â€

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MMA

Salahdine Parnasse sees ‘perfect fight’ in UFC debut against Dan Hooker

Published

2 hours ago

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September 3, 2026

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Salahdine Parnasse sees ‘perfect fight’ in UFC debut against Dan Hooker
Salahdine
Parnasse believes Dan Hooker is
the “perfect†matchup for his
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

Parnasse will make his Octagon debut against Hooker in the
UFC Paris main event on Sept. 5. The former two-division

KSW champion claims the UFC veteran is the ideal opponent to
showcase his skills against.

Salahdine Parnasse expects his aggressive style to mesh with
Dan Hooker at UFC Paris

Parnasse (23-2) enters the UFC with a ton of hype. While he sees
his upcoming opponent as a “big challenge,†given Hooker's 12-year
run in the UFC, the French fighter likes the stylistic matchup,
especially considering his Kiwi counterpart's aggressive fighting
style.

“Dan Hooker is very strong, very experienced,†Parnasse said at UFC
Paris media day. “That’s why he is at the top of the UFC and I
think he is a big challenge and I love this challenge. I think he
is a very explosive guy who likes to do a lot in his fights. And I
think that with me, it’s a perfect fight because we are both two
guys who like to go out there and put on a great show in the
cage.â€

Parnasse enters the bout riding a five-fight winning streak, with
his last win coming on
Most Valuable Promotions' inaugural mixed martial arts event.
Meanwhile, Hooker is looking to rebound from consecutive losses to
top-ranked lightweights Benoit St.
Denis and Arman
Tsarukyan.

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