Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has named the 2 people from Dagestan he absolutely despises.
Dvalishvili has never been a fan of his former opponent, Umar Nurmagomedov, whom he beat by unanimous decision at UFC 311. As per “The Machine,” Umar never deserved a title shot in the first place but was fast-tracked to one, as the 30-year-old is a cousin of legendary UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov.
After suffering the first loss of his MMA career against Dvalishvili, Umar said that he broke his hand in the first round of the title fight and therefore had a subpar performance. He’s shown interest in running it back, but “The Machine” has rejected the idea completely.
Most recently at RAF Georgia, the Umar vs. Merab feud escalated when Dvalishvili slapped Umar’s close friend after the latter grabbed Dvalishvili’s neck while asking him not to bring up Umar’s name while trash talking.
While “The Machine” is widely regarded as one of the sport’s most likable fighters and has rarely been involved in beefs with his fellow competitors, he has made it clear that he does not respect Umar.
Earlier today, on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dvalishvili said he respects every Dagestani fighter and members of Team Khabib and has immense respect for the late legendary Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
However, he despises Umar and his manager, Rizvan Magomedov. Here’s why:
“I respect Umar’s family, the Nurmagomedov family, so much. I have so much respect for all Dagestani people, especially the fighters… The only two guys from Dagestan I don’t like are Umar and his sneaky manager, Rizvan.”
“Rizvan is a sneaky guy. I found out later that he was, I guess, helping Umar disrespect me on X, making threats and writing all these disrespectful things about me and my country… If I do not like somebody [I do not fake the respect].”
Dvalishvili added that he was surprised that the “sneaky” Rizvan Magomedov, who was welcomed and treated with all the love and care when he arrived in Georgia, ended up disrespecting the country. About Umar, the former UFC champ added that Umar has never left a chance to disrespect him and, most recently, in an interview also took digs at him by saying Dvalishvili beat Petr Yan the first time since Yan was injured.
Check out Merab Dvalishvili’s comments below:
Merab Dvalishvili talks about his upcoming UFC title bout: “will never be an easy fight”
Merab Dvalishvili is going to run it back with current and two-time bantamweight titleholder Petr Yan at UFC 333. Yan dethroned him last year in a rematch and stopped Dvalishvili from becoming the first champ in the promotion’s history to register 4 successful title defenses in just 12 months.
Ahead of the title rematch, Merab Dvalishvili has confessed that Yan is the best 135-pounder right now, and if he does not prepare really well for “No Mercy,” he will once more take a brutal beating from the Russian.
Dvalishvili also stated that last year, he was training and burning himself off instead of training specifically for Yan, which is a major reason why he lost the title. During the same sit-down with Ariel Helwani, he added:
“I have one of the toughest challenges, and usually I do very well when I know I have a tough opponent and a tough challenge… I’m working very hard, but now I’m trying to be smart. I was working hard for my last fight, but I wasn’t taking breaks. I was just training and burning myself out… Petr Yan will never be an easy fight for me. I knew that, but it even surprised me how good he is and how hard he hits. If I don’t prepare really, really well, he will beat the shit out of me again.”
Check out Merab Dvalishvili’s comments below:
