UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili found himself in yet another altercation tonight after watching his teammate lose in Las Vegas.
The bantamweight champion was in town for a press conference to launch his UFC 311 title defence against Umar Nurmagomedov. And while there, he cornered teammate Aljamain Sterling in a razor-close decision loss to Movsar Evloev.
But it seems that he found himself in another battle with fans after the fact as he was held back by security. It looks as though punches were thrown, but he was not involved in that aspect as he was taken away towards the backstage area.
Merab Dvalishvili in altercation with fan at UFC 310
New footage posted by Inside Fighting tonight appears to show Merab Dvalishvili finding himself in yet another altercation with a fan inside the T-Mobile Arena. It appears that after cornering Sterling, something happened that caused he and another member of the corner team to hang back.
Dvalishvili can be seen saying something and being held back by a member of event security, eventually being led away. But another person seemingly in UFC gear appears to throw a punch over the barrier at the fan.
That other man who punched the fan appears to be UFC fighter Dennis Buzukja, who was also in the corner for Sterling. The New Yorker trains alongside the bantamweight pair, and holds a record of 1-3 in the octagon after getting signed off Dana White’s Contender Series.
It is unclear as yet what was said to cause the incident. It did take place just after his teammate lost for the first time at featherweight, but neither he nor anyone on their team has made comment as yet.
Merab Dvalishvili has history with fans at events
This is not the first time that the bantamweight champion has found himself in an incident with a fan while attending an event. Over the summer, he jumped a barrier to confront a heckler at the Craig Jones Invitational, also in Las Vegas.
“I was there watching Jiu-Jitsu enjoying,” the champion told Kevin Iole after the incident, which took place just weeks before he won the belt from Sean O’Malley at UFC 306. “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. I told him, ‘Shut up b****’ 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.”
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