New UFC bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili was in attendance at the Accor Arena last night for Fight Night: Paris, with the recently crowned 135lb champion involved in yet another incident with antagonizing fans.
Merab Dvalishvili is making a habit of almost coming to blows with UFC fans, just one week after friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling came out to slam the fanbase for being ‘way too comfortable’ trash-talking professional fighters.
Merab Dvalishvili involved in yet another altercation with UFC fans in Paris
After seeing the sights of Paris during fight week, Merab Dvalishvili was sat front and center for last night’s Fight Night card at the Accor Arena and whilst ‘The Machine’ wasn’t in competition himself, he did almost come to blows with a fan.
Video footage of the incident has been shared on social media, in which Dvalishvili is shown to be arguing with a fan along the barrier of the arena and flipping off the allegedly abusive attendee.
An associate of Dvalishvili would then attempt to throw a punch at the fan with security forced to intervene as the Georgian champion tried to push past to get involved himself.
This certainly isn’t the first time that Dvalishvili has caused controversy for the way he deals with hecklers; having famously scaled not one but two barriers in order to confront abusive fans in the past, one of which even required UFC matchmaker Hunter Campbell to pay his legal fees.
Last month at UFC 306 at The Sphere, Dvalishvili and Sterling would be involved in another heated confrontation with fans; albeit this time a group of Sean O’Malley fans and including one of Suga’s podcast co-hosts.
The incident prompted Sterling to slam the UFC fanbase for being ‘way too comfortable’ trash-talking professional fighters.
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“There was a time where your words had consequences,” lambasted Sterling via MMA Today, sharing how there’s a concerning trend with these types of altercations with fans becoming more and more common.
“Some people are saying that I’m being too soft, f*** you… People have gotten way too comfortable with just being complete a***** and thinking that there is nothing wrong with them being a******… We’re not in the arena where you can chirp away where you’ve paid up money [to be there].
Merab Dvalishvili vs Umar Nurmagomedov reportedly ‘done deal’
Whilst Dvalishvili at least tried to fight last night in Paris, his first defense of the UFC bantamweight title is reportedly being finalized back in Las Vegas.
That’s according to veteran manager Ali Abdelaziz, who just took to X to claim, “Umar Nurmagomedov fighting for the UFC bantamweight championship next done deal.”
Ironically, Dvalishvili has also just been told to fight the undefeated Nurmagomedov by the man who he just wrested the title away from, Sean O’Malley.
“I hear O’Malley thinks he won the fight and is looking for a rematch,” Dvalishvili wrote in an X post, tagging the former champion.
“If he wants it, he can have it. Let’s do Nov. 16 at the Garden and then I’ll still defend the title against whoever the UFC wants me to fight next. What do you think?”
“Getting surgery Oct. 3,” stated Suga in response. “Fought you with one hip and still beat you. Rounds 1, 3, 5. I’m the champ. Fight Umar.”