Heated Phrases Between Merab, Umar at UFC 311 Presser Observe Backstage Incident

Umar Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili, UFC 311 press convention (Dec. 6, 2024) Credit score: Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and the person who will problem for his title subsequent, Umar Nurmagomedov, needed to be separated backstage on the T-Cell Area in Las Vegas forward of the UFC 311 press convention on Friday.

Footage of the incident will be seen beneath. Evidently, issues have gotten private between the bantamweight pair.

😳😳C’est CHAUD entre Merab Dvalishvili et Umar Nurmagomedov !!! pic.twitter.com/nPD2MgMgDL

“Of course it’s personal, because every time I see him, I give him my respect, I shake his hand, I even tell him I’m going to fight him one day. Now, he starts talk, trash talk online,” Dvalishvili advised reporters on Friday. “Real men don’t do this. Okay, it’s personal for me.”

The plan, in response to Dvalishvili, had been to struggle Petr Yan, or maybe rematch Sean O’Malley, earlier than going through Umar later within the yr. As an alternative, the UFC intervened, reserving Dvalishvili vs. Nurmagomedov because the co-main occasion of UFC 311.

“I was gonna take my time, I was thinking to take six month period between my fights, and I was going to enjoy. And when Petr had a great fight against [Deiveson] Figueiredo, I was so excited, especially when he called me out. And since Umar wasn’t able to fight in March, I said ‘okay, let’s fight Petr Yan in March in Vegas.’”

Nurmagomedov has traditionally not fought throughout or near Ramadan, a key holy interval for followers of Islam. And so Dvalishvili as an alternative deliberate for a struggle with Umar in Might. “But it flipped. Now I’m going to fight Umar. It’s going to be a tough fight. As a fighter, he’s a good fighter, but he don’t earn like everybody else. He don’t go through [the toughest competition]. You have to fight best of the best. Only he fought no-wrestling [Cory] Sandhagen. Yeah, he’s a good fighter but you have to fight everybody to prove… but I give people what they want, and I give UFC what they want. Let’s see. I like challenges.”

When it was steered to Nurmagomedov that his title shot hadn’t been earned, as Dvalishvili had implied, Umar himself was dismissive. “Kai Asakura [is] fighting for the title,” he identified. Asakura, who debuts at UFC 310, will face Alexandre Pantoja for flyweight gold. “Who cares? Who about deserve, no deserve?”

“You have to be a man first,” Dvalishvili interjected. “I’m the man. I’m the man,” Nurmagomedov shot again.

What adopted was Merab suggesting Umar had been gifted his title shot, and telling Nurmagomedov to be humble. Umar, in the meantime, appeared confused as to only what he had stated to elicit the champ’s wrath.

“You’re the champion, everybody wants to fight with you. You’re a target, you take belt. If you don’t want everybody to want to fight you, leave the belt. I don’t care about you, Merab,” Umar Nurmagomedov insisted.

“Don’t talk personal. I had respect for you. I was always respectful to you. You have to be a man first,” an more and more irate Dvalishvili replied. “F*ck this belt, f*ck the money, f*ck everything else. You have to be a man first. I don’t give a sh*t, okay? I don’t give a shit about belts. You have to give me as a man- I don’t do anything disrespectful as a man.”

If nothing else, the grudge match has the potential to show into fireworks within the cage. Paired with Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan 2 for light-weight gold, the struggle provides UFC 311 a really strong 1-2 punch atop the cardboard.