It seems the UFC is taking the growing feud between upcoming opponents Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov very seriously.
Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov are set to collide at the first pay-per-view of the new year, with the pair marking one of two championship fights scheduled for UFC 311 on Jan. 18.
Before Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan run it back for the lightweight gold in the main event, Inglewood’s Intuit Dome will play host to “The Machine’s” first defense of the bantamweight belt, which he captured at Sean O’Malley’s expense this past September.
Much to his dismay, the Georgian is tasked with stalling the charge of the undefeated Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili has been vocal in dismissing the Dagestani’s title shot worthiness, and that topic has caused considerable animosity between the pair.
And that looked likely to boil over both backstage and on stage at the UFC 311 press conference in Las Vegas earlier this month, after which the champ threatened to travel to Dagestan to slap Nurmagomedov for what he perceived as ‘disrespect’.
But Dvalishvili evidently won’t need such travel to cross paths with his upcoming opponent, with the pair both currently training in “Sin City.”
The UFC, however, is taking no chances.
“It’s all good – this guy will get what is coming to him on January 18th,” Dvalishvili wrote in the caption of a video on X, during which the Georgian explained how he’d been turned away from the UFC Performance Institute due to Nurmagomedov’s presence inside.
Regardless, the champ won’t have too much longer to wait before having the chance to lay hands on the unbeaten Russian inside the cage.
While Dvalishvili is unhappy with the choice of opponent, and his teammate Aljamain Sterling has made his thoughts on the short-notice booking known, “The Machine” is still confident of blemishing Nurmagomedov’s record and cementing his grip on the bantamweight gold.
