Islam Makhachev Dismisses Merab Dvalishvili’s ‘Non-Russian’ Claims Towards Umar Nurmagomedov

Islam Makhachev fires back at Merab Dvalishvili's claims questioning Umar Nurmagomedov’s Russian identity, defending his teammate and clarifying the issue.

By Debmallya Chakraborty

Published on Sep 17, 2024 | 04:01 PM IST | 133K

Merab Dvalishvili, and Islam Makhachev

Islam Makhachev has reacted to Merab Dvalishvili claiming that Umar Nurmagomedov is not from Russia. Following an emphatic victory over Sean O’Malley at UFC Noche, Dvalishvili will, in all probability, face Umar Nurmagomedov next. However, before coming face to face with the Dagestani, ‘The Machine’ riled up the MMA community by claiming that Umar is not Russian. In the press conference following UFC 306, Dvalishvili stated that Umar was Dagestani and not Russian.

Such a statement did not sit well with the UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev. Reacting to the statement, Makhachev said, “[Merab] lives in America. He has no clue what he's talking about. Dagestan is a part of Russia.” Makhachev also opined that Dvalishvili was probably saying things to play the mental game with Umar Nurmagomedov.

Meanwhile, ‘The Machine’ was very much in control against the former bantamweight champion. While it was expected that O’Malley would pose a significant threat with his striking, the reality turned out to be quite the opposite. Throughout the 5 rounds, Dvalishvili dominated proceedings. At one point in the bout, he made 12 successful takedown attempts to completely derail O’Malley’s title defense. Despite ‘Suga’ landing a couple of desperate body shots at the fag end of the bout, it was futile as the intended damage was not enough.

Throughout the match, Dvalishvili also had some bizarre moments when he mocked O’Malley. When an attempted head kick did not connect, Dvalishvili gestured to the sky, imitating that he could not see the kick connecting. However, his antics towards the end of the second round made quite a stir. While having O’Malley stranded against the fence, Dvalishvili proceeded to kiss the back of O'Malley's neck several times.

The Georgian then let go off the stranglehold and casually walked away from ‘Suga’. On being questioned as to why he did that, Dvalishvili stated that he wanted to mock O’Malley. ‘The Machine’ pointed out that the kisses were a sign that he was dominating the entire fight. However, the newly crowned champion also clarified that he did not have anything against the former champion. While it is now time for Sean O’Malley to get back to the drawing board and analyze his loss, Dvalishvili will have new challenges coming up.

Considered as the next title contender, Umar Nurmagomedov has been undefeated in the UFC till now. While he was seen smiling from the audience at UFC 306, it remains to be seen how the path of the duo goes forward in the UFC.

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