During the lead-up to the biggest fight of his UFC career thus far at UFC 306, Merab Dvalishvili was in attendance for the Craig Jones Invitational grappling event that took place this past August and got involved in a viral confrontation.
This past August, grappling ace Craig Jones hosted the biggest grappling event of all time with several former and current UFC fighters having competed in the event.
UFC bantamweight number one contender, Merab Dvalishvili, was in attendance for the event taking in the action whilst preparing for his title fight against Sean O’Malley, which is coming up this Saturday, September 14.
Merab Dvalishvili explains what the heckler said to result in a confrontation
Although ‘The Machine’ wasn’t competing in the event, the Georgian went viral online for scaling the walls of the arena to confront a fan for persistently heckling him during the matches.
Ahead of his title fight this coming weekend, Dvalishvili explained what the heckler said to him to result in him confronting him.
“I was there watching Jiu-Jitsu enjoying (it) and only one guy, of course, he was screaming from the fan (area), ‘Merab, Sean is your daddy’ and I looked and turned around and I looked him in the eyes and said ‘Shut up’, and he kept laughing at me and he was pointing at me and continued (to shout it),” Merab told Kevin Iole.
“I told him, ‘Shut up b*tch’ and he kept going. I said ‘Come here and say it to my face’ and he kept going. I gave him three warnings to come down and talk to me, it’s not like the internet you are talking to me man to man.
“He was just joking with his one friend I guess, he was disrespecting me… I had to go (up to him). I said ‘Tell me now’ and he was saying ‘No, no’. I did bully him,” Merab added.
Dana White unsure if UFC 306 will ‘suck’ due to Sphere spectacle
The 33-year-old’s title fight against ‘Suga’ Sean is one of the most highly anticipated UFC fights in the history of the promotion because of the fact that it’s the first combat sports event to take place at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
UFC CEO, Dana White, recently revealed that the blockbuster event has cost the company over $20m in production, making it the most expensive combat sports event of all time.
With it being the first combat sports event to take place at the venue, White has recently stated that it is unknown whether the event will ‘suck’ or not because of the unknowns.
“What I don’t know, is if this works. All I know is I was in the Sphere that night watching U2 and I was blown away by the experience and what I said too is that the Sphere is the star of the show,” White explained to Grind City Media.
“On September 14th, sports and entertainment are truly going to come together at the same time. Does it work? Is it great? Is it awesome? Does it suck? We don’t know until it’s over but we’re gonna try it,” White continued.