Merab Dvalishvili Fires Back at Umar Nurmagomedov Over Georgia Slap

Merab Dvalishvili has no interest in playing peacemaker. The former bantamweight champion, 21-5 and still the division's top-ranked contender, responded Tuesday to Umar Nurmagomedov's needling over a viral scuffle at RAF Georgia this past July, and he didn't blink. In a social media video, Dvalishvili said he doesn't regret slapping a man who confronted him — a friend of Nurmagomedov's — and framed the whole thing as a matter of culture and self-respect.

The backstory: back in July, a pre-fight press conference in Georgia turned physical when the man, identified as Ahmad, got in Dvalishvili's face after Merab brushed off the idea of a wrestling match with Nurmagomedov. Video of the slap made the rounds. This is the same Nurmagomedov, 17-6 as a pro, who dropped a thrilling decision to Dvalishvili at UFC 311 in January 2025 in the biggest fight of his career.

Nurmagomedov recently poked at Dvalishvili, essentially asking how he lives with himself over the incident. Dvalishvili's answer was blunt. He said he's a man, that he grew up in a culture where disrespect gets answered directly, and that anyone who approaches him with bad intentions will get the same back — whether he's in the U.S., Mexico, Australia or Georgia.

He Says It Could've Been Worse

Dvalishvili didn't stop at explaining himself. He warned that the confrontation could have escalated badly, pointing out that plenty of young men from Tbilisi wanted to get involved. His argument, roughly: a few hundred visiting guests versus a country of millions is not a fight anyone wins. He said he later tracked down the man, shook his hand, and squashed it — and that the people still talking, the ones who weren't there, should drop it.

The contempt was thick. He repeatedly called his critics "little people" and told them to knock off the trash talk, insisting they don't know what actually happened that day.

The Fight That Actually Matters

Buried under the feud is the bout Dvalishvili genuinely wants. He closed the video talking about Petr Yan, the current 135-pound champion at 20-5, and their unfinished business. The series is tied 1-1 — Merab won the first meeting in 2023, Yan reclaimed the belt and ended Dvalishvili's reign at UFC 323 last December. Dvalishvili said he's been ready since the spring and is simply waiting on Yan to sign and the UFC to make the trilogy official. If it takes longer, he says he'll wait it out.