Umar Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili have gone five rounds in the octagon before and they almost became physical again at a recent RAF event in Georgia.
At the inaugural RAF Georgia event this past July, fans caught footage of one of Nurmagomedov’s friends getting into an altercation with Dvalishvili during a pre-fight press conference. Dvalishvili responded aggressively to fan question asking if he would wrestle Nurmagomedov in an RAF wrestling match, saying, “No, never, f*ck that guy. Whoever RAF choose, I’ll fight. Except this spoiled guy.”
Later, Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov’s friend (named “Ahmad,” according to Nurmagomedov) had a scuffle in the crowd.
Nurmagomedov criticized Dvalishvili for his behavior in a conversation with MMA journalist Adam Zubayraev.
“He’s the one who has to live with it,” Nurmagomedov said in Russian (English translation via Zubayraev). “For example, can you imagine a Georgian coming up to me in Dagestan? … If a Georgian tells me not to talk to Merab, and I hit him from behind and insult him in my own language, I can’t imagine myself doing that. But as a person, how do you live with that?
“And the people who defend it, that means there’s something wrong there. You have to call wrong things wrong. No matter who does it.”
Nurmagomedov claimed that Ahmad went to exchange words with Dvalishvili, but did not initiate the physicality, and that it’s Dvalishvili who is responsible for the confrontation escalating.
“Yeah, Ahmad walked up to him and said, ‘Why are you speaking for someone who isn’t even here?’” Nurmagomedov said. “He didn’t insult him, didn’t say anything rude, didn’t show any disrespect. He said, ‘Tell him to his face what you want to say. Why are you swearing here?’”
The beef between Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov dates back to 2024, when Nurmagomedov was rising through the bantamweight ranks as an undefeated fighter chasing Dvalishvili at the top of the division. They were eventually booked to fight at UFC 311 in January 2025, with Dvalishvili outworking and outlasting Nurmagomedov to win a unanimous decision and retain his UFC title.
Nurmagomedov, who looks to make it three straight wins when he fights Song Yadong in the main event of UFC Shanghai on Aug. 29, has spoken of rematching Dvalishvili, but until that day comes he wants little to do with his Georgian rival.
“I swear, I don’t care at all what he does or how he feels,” Nurmagomedov said. “I’m being honest with you. In general, there are probably people who want to prove something. Brother, I have nothing to prove to anyone and I have nothing to prove to Merab and I have nothing to prove to Georgians. I just want to live my life, that’s it.”
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