At UFC 310 on Saturday, bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili was on job as he was in the corner of Aljamain Sterling for his big featherweight fight against the undefeated, Movsar Evloev.
Unfortunately for the Serra and Longo product, he was handed his first loss at 145lbs after a tough three rounds and subsequently losing a unanimous decision at UFC 310.
Despite that, fans were left relatively outraged at the decision, with a large portion of the fanbase believing that Aljamain Sterling did enough through the first two rounds to pick up the win.
Merab Dvalishvili gets into a fight with a fan following Sterling’s UFC 310 loss
However, it was what happened after Sterling’s fight against Movsar Evloev that left fans talking, as on their way backstage, UFC bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili got involved in another altercation with a fan.
‘The Machine’ has been in Las Vegas over the week, not only because of his involvement in Sterling’s corner but because his title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov was officially confirmed for UFC 311.
He and Nurmagomedov took part in a press conference this past Wednesday, with Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan also on stage.
Dvalishvili has become well known for sticking it on fans who have given him grief in the past as this past September before his fight against Sean O’Malley, Dvalishvili was involved in an altercation at a grappling event, which went viral.
During their walk backstage following Sterling’s loss, a fan close to the barrier seemingly began to heckle the team which garnered a reaction from the Georgian.
Dvalishvili went to the barrier and began to push the fan but was then quickly grabbed by security as he seemed to begin throwing punches in the direction of the fan.
However, as security had a hold of Merab, another member of Sterling’s corner team and current fighter on the UFC roster, Dennis Buzukja began to trade punches with the fan stood at the barrier.
- JACUZZI JAB: Merab Dvalishvili throws hilarious jibe at Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 press conference
Dana White reacts to Merab Dvalishvili’s fan altercation at UFC 310
With emotions being high following his teammate and friends loss, Dvalishvili’s actions weren’t exactly condemned by his UFC boss, Dana White.
Not only that, but ‘The Machine’ painted a pent up picture during his press conference with Nurmagomedov, which has led to question marks regarding where his head is at with the matchup.
As Nurmagomedov was also in attendance at UFC 310, the UFC team made sure to work out the seating plan so that Merab and the Russian were sat separately.
“Listen, Merab is that guy. He’s that guy. This isn’t his first altercation (with a fan),” White began to explain at the UFC 310 post fight press conference.
“I don’t know if you guys noticed at the press conference too, to the right someone yelled something and he’s in the middle of a conversation and he looked, like he’s trying to see who said something, like what, you’re gonna run over there and fight this guy too?
“It’s just the way he is, he’s built that way and I don’t know if you saw but he wasn’t sitting in the regular fighter section, we had to move him over, I had to move the other two guys over at our table, we try to defuse this stuff before it happens… I didn’t think he’d get into a fight walking out with Aljamain.
White understands that it has almost become a regular occurrence for Dvalishvili to get involved in altercations with fans, and he has compared him to one of the most controversial fighters in the sport, Sean Strickland.
Although Strickland isn’t known for causing controversy by fighting fans, his performances on the microphone have made him the most outspoken and controversial fighter in the UFC.
“He’s my mini (Sean) Strickland, without the mouth. What do you do?” White comically finished.
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