One of the biggest talking points of UFC 311 surprisingly is the corner of Umar Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev. The Dagestanis, who will fight on the co-main and main event respectively of the January 18 card, will be cornered by the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will have to pull a double shift. But Umar’s opponent, bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili isn’t the one to be left behind.

‘The Machine’ is also looking to have a UFC ace in his corner- featherweight champ and Dvalishvili’s Georgian compatriot- Ilia Topuria. “Yeah, I’m going to ask Ilia if he wants this [to be in my corner], we’ll see. Yeah, like I’m here in Vegas, [I] live here, training here, [at] Syndicate MMA and John Wood is coaching me. And Ray Longo will fly out from New York, and Aljamain Sterling, my best friend and training partner will be with me. I’m gonna ask Ilia if he has time and go from there,” Dvalishvili told ‘TNT Sports’ in an interview.

Of course, Aljamain Sterling, Ray Longo, and John Wood are regular features in ‘The Machine’s corner. But if the bantamweight champ could get Topuria in his corner, it would be quite a coup. Topuria, after all, is one of the biggest superstars in the entire sport and if he were to be with Dvalishvili at UFC 311, it would give his fight another exciting dimension, which may even help sell more PPVs, especially in the UFC champs’ native Georgia.

Not to mention Topuria has proven himself one of the best MMA brains in the world, having defeated the two greatest featherweights last year. Having a fighter of that caliber along with a former champ in Aljamain Sterling and a well-regarded coach in Longo would be very helpful for ‘The Machine’. Especially since this is a fight that is about more than Dvalishvili’s 135-pound belt.

Merab Dvalishvili vows to ‘slap around’ Umar Nurmagomedov

A very angry Merab Dvalishvili apparently barged into Dana White‘s office demanding to fight Umar. This must have come as a massive shock to the UFC CEO since the bantamweight champ had very publicly and vocally been against the idea of fighting the undefeated Dagestani next. After all, Dvalishvili feels that Umar had it easy in his pursuit of the title considering his ties to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

But tired of Umar trolling and ‘disrespecting’ him online, implying ‘The Machine’ was afraid to fight him, Dvalishvili was livid. So livid in fact that he demanded the head honcho to make their fight as soon as possible so that he could avenge his honor and teach the young contender a lesson in respect and humility.

“Umar disrespect me. No, I understand he wants the title but you gotta give me respect as a man first because I know him. Every time I see him I shake his hand, I support him, I wish him all the best and I even tell him like we gonna fight one day but first I want a man’s respect. Like okay, you need a belt but don’t disrespect me, don’t disrespect my country otherwise I’m going to slap his face, you know,” Dvalishvili said. What do you think about Dvalsihvili’s plan to have Ilia Topuria in his corner for UFC 311?