The newly crowned bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili is not someone who steps back, but someone who steps up. He was quick to give Sean O’Malley his rematch after ‘Suga’ devised his theory as to why he should have been the victor at the Sphere earlier this month. And evidently, ‘The Machine’ doesn’t just just step up to UFC fighters but also heckling fans, which he encountered recently.

Renato Moicano was speaking to Michael Bisping after his win against Benoit Saint-Denis when in the audience, Merab Dvalishvili got into a verbal scuffle with a fan in attendance. ‘The Machine’ seemed to be with a member of his entourage, who tried to land a slap on the fan who tried to do the same. Even Dvalishvili wanted in on the action, but security was thankfully alert enough to take control of the situation.

However, the bantamweight champion didn’t shy away from flipping the bird to the heckling fans, and that seems to have amused fans more than anything else. Let’s see what the netizens and fans online had to say about Merab Dvalishvili’s altercation in UFC Paris.

Was it a “shame” for the fan to have picked on Merab Dvalishvili? Fans react

For fans now, it’s a regular occurrence for Merab Dvalishvili whenever he’s at a combat sports show. As such, one fan on X shared that sentiment, stating, “This happens every time he’s at an event.” On the other hand, the netizens blamed the audience members who tried to rub UFC fighters the wrong way, and hence, sided with the Georgian star on this one. “Why do fans keep messing with Merab.. he’s not the type to sit back and do nothing,” that fan commented.

Even when Merab Dvalishvili confronted a heckler last time, he would later come out to claim that he just wanted to see if his words would turn into action, which, of course, did not. One fan thus cited, “Bad moment for every fann,” believing that people need to step up in respecting the game, and after all, they are professional athletes. Would you agree with this assessment? Well, another fan surely does as he added, “merab hate needs to stop, fk these guys always tryna fight him.”

But then again, some were quick to take shots at Dvlaishvili, alleging that he overreacted assuming that the fans only inquired about Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s cousin- “They only told him stop running away from Umar.” One even expressed their to see him take on Umar Nurmagomedov- “This guy fighting everyone but Umar.” But on a funny note, one fan added, “Notice Merab still not throwing any strikes,” which might have been a reference to the fact that only uses his wrestling skills in a fight.

After witnessing the video, what do you make of Merab’s Altercation? Was he right in responding to the fan or should he have just ignored him? Let us know in the comments below.