Merab Dvalishvili has left the UFC world talking, not only because he became the new UFC bantamweight champion but also because he had a scuffle with a civilian.  There is a video going viral where the Russian is seen getting into an altercation with a heckler in the audience. But get this- it’s from August, which means it was before he became a champ and Sean O’Malley lost. ‘The Machine‘ was in attendance at the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) grappling tournament, which was being held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. 

The first evening of the tournament saw the Georgian, having a good time supporting his friends. However, it was short-lived because it took a turn for the worse as a fan kept heckling him from the audience.  It is believed that the heckler was a fan of Sean O’Malley and his jibes were about the clash they were about to have at UFC 306.  

In response to the insults, ‘The Machine’ climbed up the security barricade in a swift motion and strode towards the fan. This video was naturally captured by onlookers and went viral. It has gone so viral that even Conor McGregor decided to share it in his Instagram stories and comment on it.   He said, “A legend is Merab! Careful how you speak on people or to people for some people are going through things in their life where they just don’t give a f–k about the consequences anymore and guess what then, you’re up sh–s creek without a paddle.” Looks like this throwback viral video was not just to warn fans but also Umar Nurmagomedov who might be fighting the Georgian if everything goes according to plan.

On top of that, ‘Suga’ had come forward at the time of the incident, to speak about the scuffle and took a jibe at the Georgian when all this happened a month ago. He uploaded a video on his channel where he addressed this issue.

Sean O’Malley’s cautionary advice to Merab Dvalishvili

‘Suga’ said on his Youtube video, “Merab looks and just can’t handle it…True stoicism at its finest. That is stoicism…You can be sued for assaulting a civilian. You’re not allowed to assault somebody. You can’t just put your hands on somebody.”  However, after UFC Noche things have taken a turn since Dvalishvili won the title and is now sitting on the bantamweight throne. Yet, being viral has not left his side because he again got into a scuffle with a fan.  Renato Moicano was speaking to Michael Bisping after his UFC Paris win against Benoit Saint-Denis when in the audience, Merab Dvalishvili got into a verbal scuffle with a fan in attendance. This video has also gotten into the hands of the fans and Dvalishvili is again the talk of the UFC world.

Nevertheless, it seems like McGregor is in complete support of Dvalishvili as was evident from the former’s Instagram story. They are actually pretty cordial and ‘The Notorious’ even congratulated Dvalishvili on winning at UFC 306. Surprisingly before this, the duo had met back in 2023 when Dvalishvili was preparing to fight Petr Yan. He bumped into the former dual-weight champ at UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.

Speaking about the same the Georgian had said, “I was so happy to see him because I always wanted to tell him thank you, whatever he did for the sport, you know? He is charismatic and is such a humble [human being].” He also went so far as to say that McGregor was more humble than his opponent Petr Yan.

It seems like the friendship is still strong and now McGregor is even warning fans and possible contenders like Umar Nurmagomedov when it comes to making Dvalishvili angry.  Did you know about this trait of the Georgian star? Do you think he will fight Umar? Tell us in the comments below.