Aljamain Sterling got handed his first loss at featherweight by undefeated star, Movsar Evloev. The Russian native extended his unbeaten run to 19 wins in a row, as he inched closer to getting a much-deserved title shot. Meanwhile, emotions ran high in Sterling’s camp after his fifth professional defeat, and his best friend and teammate, Merab Dvalishvili, got into a scuffle, yet again, with a fan.

Merab Dvalishvili has been in a heated state ever since the UFC 311 press conference. He blasted his upcoming opponent, Umar Nurmagomedov, for being disrespectful, and even got into an altercation with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin brother backstage.

However, ‘The Machine’ seems to have taken his hot-headedness a bit too far. Following Aljamaim Sterling’s loss on the UFC 301 prelims card in a rather empty venue, fans recorded and shared a video of Dvalishvili getting into an altercation with a fan.

Tensions were high for sure, but Merab Dvalishvili looked like he wanted to rip the fan apart. He had to be held back by security, but another individual, presumably from Sterling’s camp, got into the fan’s face. What happened later was pure chaos as that fan hit the unidentified UFC guy from ‘Funk Master’s team.

The bantamweight champion’s prior clash with a fan took place just a few months ago at the Craig Jones Invitational when he jumped a barrier to confront a fan. But why is he getting himself into trouble? Well, fans have an idea, and they believe it’s pretty shady.

Is Merab Dvalishvili trying to avoid Umar Nurmagomedov? Fans declare their verdict

The only thing that Umar Nurmagomedov accused Merab Dvalishvili of was his attempt to avoid fighting him, but for the Georgian star, it was about disrespect. However, one fan seems to have sided with Khabib’s cousin brother, claiming that ‘The Machine’s attempt to fight a fan is all part of a bigger scheme to get suspended and delay the fight against the undefeated Dagestan native. “Bro trying to get suspended so he don’t have to fight Umar,” one fan stated on X.

As expected, fans also pointed out the level of professionalism, as an X user added, “These guys for being professional fighters have such thin skin, it’s absurd,” taking a disliking to what he witnessed from Merab Dvalishvili. Then again, as another fan added, “Merab give the belt a bad name,” they believe that these kinds of incidents are not what champions are meant to engage in. “Merab is an short tempered clash of clans goblin.”

However, some fans are backing Merab Dvalishvili, as they do not know what picture of what led to the altercation. “But what happened before we need to see more footage lol,” a fan stated in that regard. As some claim that “Merab is losing it,” others believe that ‘The Machine’ was just standing up for his teammate and friend, who had just lost a fight. They called it “true friendship.”

What do you make of Merab Dvalishvili constantly getting into trouble? Could Dana White take some aggressive actions? Let us know in the comments down below.