LAS VEGAS – Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov got into it on Friday night.
Not only did the two have a lot to say backstage prior to their UFC 311 press conference in Las Vegas, but also during. Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) and Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) got into a heated argument and stole most of the attention, as the two went back and forth over the merit of Nurmagomedov’s title shot scheduled to go down on Jan. 18 in Los Angeles.
“I’m going to fight Umar and is going to be a tough fight,” Dvalishvili said at the presser. “As a fighter, he’s a good fighter, but he don’t earn like everybody else. He don’t go through, like you know. You have to fight the best, and he only fought no-wrestling Sandhagen. Yeah, he’s a good fighter, but you have to fight everybody to prove, but I give people what they want, and I give UFC what they want.”
Nurmagomedov fired back, citing the main event of Saturday’s UFC 310, which features a flyweight championship fight where Kai Asakura will be challenging champion Alexandre Pantoja in his octagon debut.
“Kai Asakura fighting for the title in his debut fight. Who cares?”, Nurmagomedov said. “Who cares about deverse or no deserve.”
Dvalishvili interrupted almost immediately, bringing up some of the things Nurmagomedov said online in recent weeks – which haven’t sat well with the UFC bantamweight champion.
“Be a man first,” Dvalishvili said. “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.”
Nurmagomedov stood his ground and said he’s only spoken facts.
“Tell everybody what I said about your personality,” Nurmagomedov said. “I just described your behavior. You tried to avoid me, you don’t even mention my name.”
You can watch their full back and forth in the replay of the press conference above.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: ‘You’re a piece of sh*t’: UFC 311 co-headliners Merab Dvalishvili, Umar Nurmagomedov argue title merit
