"You're a piece of sh*t" - Merab Dvalishvili goes off on Umar Nurmagomedov for social media comments ahead of UFC 311 title showdown
The bad blood between reigning bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov was clearly evident as both exchanged a war of words throughout the UFC 311 press conference this Friday.
During the presser, both fighters kept firing shots at each other. Nurmagomedov repeatedly asked Dvalishvili why he lost respect for him, pressing for an answer. He asserted that he had never spoken badly about the bantamweight champion, only accusing him of ducking their fight. Nurmagomedov also pointed out that Dvalishvili seemed more interested in a rematch with Sean O'Malley instead.
Meanwhile, 'The Machine' confronted Nurmagomedov at the presser streamed by MMA Junkie about his social media trash talk and slammed him, saying:
"Be a man first... You're a good fighter, but not a good man. You're a piece of sh*t. You lost respect as a man for me. Real men don’t talk trash online."
Check out the press conference of UFC 311 below:
The rivalry began after Dvalishvili dethroned O'Malley at UFC 306 to become the bantamweight champion. Since then, Dvalishvili has shown more interest in a rematch with O'Malley than facing Nurmagomedov. This led Nurmagomedov to accuse the Georgian of ducking him, claiming that Dvalishvili was afraid to face him in the octagon.
In the press conference, Dvalishvili accused the Dagestani fighter of not proving himself like other fighters who have earned a title shot. Despite this, Nurmagomedov boasts an impressive undefeated MMA record of 18-0 in his career.
Dvalishvili is set to make his first title defense against Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January next year. The fight will take place in the co-main event at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, United States.
Dana White reveals backstory of how the fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov got booked for UFC 311
UFC 311 is arguably the best card since UFC 300. While announcing the card, Dana White shared the backstory of how the Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov fight got booked as the co-main event.
He asserted that Dvalishvili was tired of the disrespect from Nurmagomedov and came into the office to get the fight booked.
''Merab came into the office late last night, told us that he is tired of listening to Umar disrespect him and wanted to make this fight happen as soon as possible. We called Umar, he was sleeping in Dagestan. He said, 'Hell yes, anywhere and anytime.'''
Check out Dana White’s comments below: