December 8, 2024 5:15 pm ET
Merab Dvalishvili has begun to handle the bodily altercation Saturday at UFC 310 between himself, a fan, and teammate Dennis Buzukja.
Dvalishvili and Buzukja have been cornermen for Aljamain Sterling’s preliminary bout in opposition to Movsar Evloev at T-Cell Area in Las Vegas. As all of them have been making the stroll to the again after the struggle, video surfaced on-line of Dvalishvili being restrained by safety, whereas Buzukja threw punches at a fan.
The preliminary viral video didn’t seize what began the incident. Nonetheless, on Sunday, Dvalishvili shared a video edit on social media that not solely included an alternate angle of what sparked the second but additionally the id of the fan concerned.
Whereas Dvalishvili was recording his teammate Sterling strolling to the again, a fan grabbed Dvalishvili’s arm, and allegedly started insulting the UFC bantamweight champion. Dvalishvili was shortly restrained by safety whereas Buzukja approached and commenced punching the fan.
“Seems he is not only fan from Kazakhstan, however a provoker,” a narrating voice stated within the video. The fan within the video was recognized as Arman Tugaev, a Kazakhstani who, in accordance with social media posts, attended the occasion to help his fellow countryman Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Dvalishvili believes there’s extra to the story, nevertheless, as pictures of Tugaev with upcoming title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov have been posted to the fighter’s Instagram Tales after the occasion. There are additionally previous pictures with Tugaev and different members of the staff, together with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“This was simply Dagestani’s soiled trick and provocation,” the voice within the video stated.
Extra lies, disrespect, and deliberate provocations from Umar’s staff. Right here’s the actual story … pic.twitter.com/btwTzJrC0D
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) December 8, 2024
After the conclusion of UFC 310, promotion CEO Dana White was requested about Dvalishvili’s latest temperament.
“He’s my mini (Sean) Strickland with out the mouth,” White advised reporters throughout a UFC 310 post-event information convention. “What do you do? Let him purchase the pay-per-view, I suppose. I don’t know. You may’t preserve combating with f*cking followers. It’s going to value you a large number, you are able to do it. It’s going to value you some huge cash, proper?”
On the time of writing, it’s unclear if there can be any authorized repercussions for the altercation.
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 310.
Make sure you go to the MMA Junkie Instagram web page and YouTube channel to debate this and extra content material with followers of combined martial arts.
