Umar Nurmagomedov is getting tired of Merab Dvalishvili talking about him in the media, and Nurmagomedov has just one request: If Dvalishvili has a problem, say it to his face.
While Dvalishvili is set to face Petr Yan in a trilogy bout for the bantamweight title in the co-main event of October’s UFC 333 event in Abu Dhabi, Nurmagomedov competes this Saturday as he faces Song Yadong in a pivotal bantamweight headliner at UFC Shanghai.
In a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dvalishvili was
asked why he got into it with a Nurmagomedov fan ahead of July’s RAF Georgia event, and the former champ began to talk about Nurmagomedov being the only Dagestan fighter he doesn’t like, while also taking a shot at Nurmagomedov’s manager Rizvan Magomedov — calling him ‘sneaky.’
Nurmagomedov was asked about the RAF incident and Dvalishvili’s recent comments
“I think it’s never going to be done,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Fighting about his rivalry with Dvalishvili. “It’s never going to die, and we’re never going to be friends, and I’m never going to invite him anywhere to drink tea or something. It’s never going to be done. And he acts how he acts. He talk a lot of shit, he do something crazy. Even right now he talk about my manager Rizvan, [saying] he’s snake or something. Rizvan never tell me anything. He never use my Twitter. Nobody use my Twitter. Just me.
“He tried to involve other guys, my friends who come to just talk with him. … Nobody hold him. Nobody touch him. Everything’s on video. Why are you lying? But everything, we’re going to figure out everything. People think I just talk about him. I don’t need to talk about him. When you’re asking about him, I tell. Him? How I see, if you have a problem with men, you don’t need camera. You don’t need social media, and you need nobody, OK? [If] I do disrespect [towards] him, come to me. Why are you going to cry? Why are you going to tell, ‘Ah, he disrespected me, he’s like this, he’s like this.’ Why? For what? You have a problem, come to me. Tell me anything in front of me.
“When my friend come to him, they asked him. They don’t do nothing. They said, ‘Why do you talk to somebody behind his back? Tell him in front of his face. Just that.”
Nurmagomedov challenged Dvalishvili for the title at UFC 311 in January 2025, and Dvalishvili won a competitive decision to retain the title. “The Machine” went on to defend his title successfully two more times this past year against Sean O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen, before losing the title to Yan in their rematch at UFC 323 this past December.
Since losing in his first championship opportunity, Nurmagomedov bounced back with a pair of decision victories against Mario Bautista and former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo.
While Nurmagomedov is focused on Song this Saturday and believes Dvalishvili is a very good fighter, he has a message for Dvalishvili.
“Brother, I don’t give a shit about all of this, like, respect, disrespect, think about him,” Nurmagomedov explained. “I don’t care. He’s living his life, right? Who is in his life, I don’t care. He’s a good fighter, yes. I can tell you he’s a good fighter. But other way, like how he act, how he move, he respectful guy, disrespectful, I don’t care about that. It’s not my business. I’m not his teacher. I’m not his uncle or somebody to tell [him] he do wrong he do deed good, you know?
“Everybody, even you, for example, you see somebody come to you, talk with you, whereas in your country there’s like gas, like you punch him, take him, and then it’s good. Everybody can answer for himself. You don’t need [me to] tell you. Even me, I don’t need to tell like how he is as person. If he has a problem, if he has a problem with me, if I do disrespect, OK. You’re man. You’re fighter. When somebody at the stadium, fans, anywhere he sees somebody, [he’ll] show him like some fingers, [say] anything, he leave security. He go to talk with that fan.
“Come to me if I do disrespect. Nobody’s going to hold you. You can find my number. We can find space. Text me. You’re [getting ready] to fight right now. His next fight is in Abu Dhabi. We can go visit. Just text me. It’s a man’s style. It’s not men’s style when you’re crying disrespect, disrespect,[all this]. He has to change his nickname. No more ‘Machine,’ [change it] to ‘Disrespect’ Merab. No ‘Machine. Because all the time crying about that.”
As the budding rivalry between the two fighters continues to heat up, a win for both competitors in their upcoming fight would certainly set the table for a high-stakes grudge rematch that the UFC and fans can get behind.
Even though Nurmagomedov says he’s more than happy to settle his difference with Dvalishvili — either in or out of the octagon — he’s left wondering why Dvalishvili is so upset with him.
“OK, everything have to be understand, right? Ask him which kind of disrespect?,” Nurmagomedov said. “What’s the disrespect? Was there one word, like bad, bad things? Cursing any one time? No. Never.”
