Connect with us

MMA

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

Published

on

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€

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MMA

Joshua Van reveals why he used to flip Dustin Poirier fight footage

Published

on

Joshua Van reveals why he used to flip Dustin Poirier fight footage
Joshua
Van studies footage of fellow fighters who have a style similar
to his.

Van recently revealed that he used to flip tape of Dustin
Poirier to pick up techniques. He explains that he used to flip
the footage because he is orthodox while Poirier is a southpaw. Van
studies tape of other elite fighters like Ilia
Topuria, who have a boxing-based style like him. However, Van's
favorite fighter to study is fellow
Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Petr Yan.

Joshua Van explains how Dustin Poirier, Petr Yan and Ilia
Topuria influence his striking

Van defended his title for the second time at UFC
331, putting his renowned boxing on display to defeat Alexandre
Pantoja in their rematch. “The Fearless†revealed in a recent
interview that he actively studies Yan's hands and incorporates
what he can into his own arsenal.

“He's got my style of fighting,†Van told Ariel Helwani. “He's a
boxing-based fighter, kind of like Petr Yan, Ilia. I like to study
one of the greats and just put it into my game… Petr Yan really is
the one that I really watch.â€

Van has emerged as a fan favorite for his fighting style. His next
challenger hasn't been revealed yet, with Manel Kape
being the frontrunner. Meanwhile, Yan is scheduled to defend his
title in a trilogy bout against Merab Dvalishvili at
UFC 333.

Continue Reading

MMA

UFC 331 upset winner reveals ‘crazy’ decisions behind $600K debt

Published

on

UFC 331 upset winner reveals ‘crazy’ decisions behind $600K debt
Sean
Sharaf is planning on getting a financial advisor after making
several terrible decisions.

Sharaf (5-2) was a massive underdog going into his
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight bout against
Gable
Steveson at UFC
331, where he recorded a 12-second knockout in a historic
upset. He revealed before the bout that he was in heavy debt.

Sean Sharaf discusses ‘crazy' ways he blew up money to end up
in debt

Sharaf earned a $50,000 promotional bonus from Paramount+ for his
win over Steveson. Dana
White added $50,000 of his own to double Sharaf's bonus, while
revealing that the UFC heavyweight was $600,000 in debt.

Sharaf recently revealed how he gradually came under massive debt.
The former U.S. Marine admits to making terrible financial
decisions like buying a truck he couldn't afford. Sharaf also
started gambling when he first moved to Las Vegas in the hope of
meeting White, who frequents casinos.

Sharaf eventually had to borrow money from his mother. He took an
advance from his management company for UFC 331 so that he could
train in Vegas, as he lives with his mother in California now.
Sharaf barely has any assets in his name and banks regularly keep
hounding him. However, his life will hopefully change after his
last win, considering he plans to consult a financial advisor
now.

“I just made a lot of very crazy financial decisions,†Sharaf told
ESPN MMA. “So, I had a TRX I couldn't afford. Blew $120,000 on that
thing. I was trying to help my mom sometimes. But more times I
actually had borrowed money from her. I got an advance on my purse
from my management so I could have my camp in Vegas… I gambled a
lot of money when I first moved to Vegas. I was trying to meet
Dana… I don't have anything in my name. The banks call you every
single day… I think I'm getting a financial advisor.â€

Continue Reading

MMA

Marlon Vera reveals $200K robbery on eve of Sean O’Malley title fight

Published

on

Marlon Vera reveals $200K robbery on eve of Sean O’Malley title fight
Marlon
Vera's house was broken into while he was getting ready to
challenge Sean
O’Malley for the title.

Vera made an unsuccessful
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title bid against
O'Malley in 2024 in Miami. He recently revealed that his house in
California was broken into the night before the fight. When the
cameras went off at night, Vera's wife thought it was due to a
power cut. The next morning, the police informed Vera that his
house had been robbed.

Marlon Vera says his watch collection was stolen from his
California home before UFC 299

Vera wasn't happy to hear the news just hours before the biggest
fight of his career. Vera's watch collection, worth approximately
$200,000, was stolen. While someone informed Vera about a suspect,
the police never caught the culprit. Vera also believes it could be
someone who knew him, as they entered, found the watch collection
without rummaging through the house and exited within five
minutes.

“The night before the fight, the cameras went off,†Vera told
Michael
Bisping. “My wife was like, ‘Oh, maybe it's the electricity.'
The next morning, I wake up like, ‘F*ck yeah, title fight. Today
life changed.' Then the phone rings and the cops are like, ‘Hey
dude, they just robbed your house last night around 7 p.m.' I said,
‘Right now I don't have time for this; I'm fighting tonight.' The
cops know who I am; they were like, ‘No, we get it; we just thought
we’d let you know.' I'm like, ‘Wrong time to let me know.' They
told me they took my safe. I lost like $200K because I'm a watch
collector. Those were kind of investments. Those watches are money.
I'm counting in my head like, ‘Now I'm $200K short.' The cops never
found the guy. I have a photo and I have this random person
accusing, like, ‘Oh, I know this guy. His name is blah, blah.' The
guy came in, took the safe and took it through the front door. It
took him five minutes.â€

Vera (24-12) went on a four-fight skid starting with the failed
title challenge against O'Malley. “Chito†finally ended the slump
with a stoppage win over Charles
Jourdain at UFC 331.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending