Merab Dvalishvili barred from UFC PI, Tyson Fury's "red flag" gesture, coach has "given up" on Khabib Nurmagomedov: MMA News Roundup
Merab Dvalishvili, who has recently been in multiple fan altercations, claimed he was not allowed to enter the UFC Performance Institute. Elsewhere, American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez said he has given up on trying to keep Khabib Nurmagomedov under control.
Today's most exciting combat sports updates are presented by Sportskeeda MMA below.
Merab Dvalishvili is not allowed to enter the UFC Performance Institute
In a video uploaded on his social media, Merab Dvalishvili recently claimed that he was not allowed to enter the UFC Performance Institute to get treatment for his injury and sign cards, all because of Umar Nurmagomedov.
The two are set to fight with the bantamweight title on the line at UFC 311 and have been beefing online for a while. Dvalishvili even claimed that the latest fan altercation he had was a set-up by the Nurmagomedov camp.
Dvalishvili said:
"I’m here out [in] front of the UFC P.I., and security don’t let me go in because they said, ‘Umar Nurmagomedov is inside,’ and they are protecting him... Don’t worry, I’m not going to punch you before the fight. Jan. 18th, no one will protect you.''
Body Language expert breaks down Tyson Fury's pre-fight behavior
Body language expert Judi James broke down Tyson Fury's attitudes and behaviors ahead of his Riyadh Season title clash with Oleksandr Usyk and found some that hinted he was unprepared for the fight.
James said, via BetUK [H/t Daily Star], that Fury displayed a key gesture that was a glaring "red flag" in regards to his chances of a victory:
"There was one key gesture though, that seemed to signal a motivational glitch or problem and which acted as a red flag in terms of his chances of winning this fight. A very chilling gesture of the puffing out of the air as he got down to the business of the fight suggested he just wanted to get it over with, whereas successful boxers tend to look excited by and longing for the fight itself. Some of the best boxers have approached their fights looking like dogs pulling to get off the leash and get stuck in."
Despite all the sacrifices the Brit made, including not speaking to his wife Paris for three months, he fell short against the Ukrainian for the second time in a unanimous decision loss. He and his team weren't happy with the scorecard and neither was a large section of boxing fans. However, the AI judge, used for the first time in history in this match, agreed with the official result.
Javier Mendez has given up on controlling Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov often loses his cool while cornering his students during a fight. He got told off by the presiding commission for his actions during Islam Makhachev's fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302.
During a recent interview, Helen Yee asked AKA head coach Javier Mendez whether he has been successful in keeping Nurmagomedov more tamed this time at UFC 311. Mendez hilariously responded in negative, shrugging off any responsibility for the same:
"No, I stopped [explaining it to him]. It wasn't working. He goes nuts. No, I'm not going to even try... I gave up. I'm not helping [with] that. Sorry, commission guys. I'm not going to help. They're on their own."
Check out Javier Mendez's comments below (10:07):