Merab Dvalishvili Answers Umar Criticism

Merab Dvalishvili has answered Umar Nurmagomedov’s criticism of the confrontation involving Nurmagomedov’s friend Ahmad at RAF Georgia, saying he reacted to what he viewed as disrespect and later sought out Ahmad to settle the matter. Dvalishvili delivered his response in a social media video after Nurmagomedov questioned how he could live with the incident. The dispute has remained in the public conversation despite Dvalishvili’s account that the two men shook hands afterward. The exchange came after a pre-fight press conference at RAF Georgia, where Ahmad confronted Dvalishvili over Dvalishvili dismissing the possibility of a wrestling match with Nurmagomedov. Video of the confrontation circulated widely, and Dvalishvili appeared to slap Ahmad as the encounter became physical. In his response, Dvalishvili did not deny initiating the physicality. Instead, he explained why he believed the way he was approached mattered to his reaction.

Dvalishvili’s message was not framed as a denial of the incident. He said Nurmagomedov and others were continuing to talk about him, then described his own standard for handling an encounter he considers confrontational. “Umar and some small people keep talking trash about me,” Dvalishvili said. He added that if someone pulls him over, disrespects him and begins speaking loudly to him in another language, that person will get a physical response. The bantamweight fighter connected that stance to how he grew up and to his Georgian culture. Dvalishvili also said his response would not depend on location, naming the United States, Mexico, Australia and Georgia while saying that people who come with bad intentions will receive bad intentions. The key point of his explanation is that he viewed the incident as a reaction to the approach, rather than an unprompted act. That does not change the competing accounts surrounding the confrontation, but it establishes the reasoning Dvalishvili offered publicly in his own words.

Dvalishvili says the dispute was resolved

Merab Dvalishvili said he came to recognize that the RAF Georgia incident could grow beyond the people directly involved. He recalled that teenagers and Georgian children from Tbilisi wanted to fight, while his friends also wanted to become involved. Dvalishvili described that possibility as potentially serious in a country with three or four million people and visitors from different countries. That concern led into the most concrete part of Dvalishvili’s account: he said he found Ahmad after the confrontation and shook his hand. “Everything is done and we are cool,” Dvalishvili said. His request in the video was aimed at ending further discussion from people he said were not present and did not know what happened. He repeatedly called those critics “small people” and told them to stop the trash talk and nonsense talking. This distinction is important to Dvalishvili’s message. He defended his conduct during the initial encounter while also presenting the handshake as the point at which the personal dispute with Ahmad ended. His comments did not announce a new confrontation with Nurmagomedov. They were instead a response to continuing criticism of an episode Dvalishvili says he has already addressed directly with the man involved.

The background between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov gives the RAF Georgia argument additional context. They previously met at UFC 311 in January 2025, when Dvalishvili won a decision and successfully defended his bantamweight title. The RAF dispute followed Dvalishvili’s public dismissal of a possible wrestling match with Nurmagomedov, which prompted Ahmad to confront him at the press conference. Nurmagomedov later criticized Dvalishvili’s behavior and asked how he could live with it. Dvalishvili’s video directly answered that criticism, but his focus was broader than Nurmagomedov alone. He said people continuing to provoke discussion were not there and did not know the full circumstances. Dvalishvili also warned that the situation could have become worse had more people joined the conflict, before emphasizing that he had located Ahmad and shaken his hand. The chronology clarifies why Dvalishvili treated the matter as unfinished in public but settled in person. The original confrontation happened at RAF Georgia; criticism followed; then Dvalishvili responded by both defending his reaction and stating that he had made peace with Ahmad. Those are separate parts of the same account, and both are central to what Dvalishvili said in the video.

Dvalishvili also addresses Petr Yan wait

Merab Dvalishvili closed the same video by turning to a separate issue: a possible trilogy bout with Petr Yan. Dvalishvili said he hopes Yan signs the contract and that he is waiting for a UFC announcement. He also said the UFC knows he has been ready since springtime and that he will wait patiently if the fight comes later. The source material establishes that Dvalishvili and Yan are tied in their series. Dvalishvili defeated Yan in their first meeting in 2023, while Yan ended Dvalishvili’s bantamweight title reign at UFC 323 this past December. Dvalishvili’s remarks do not confirm that a third fight has been signed or announced. They confirm only his stated readiness and his hope that the bout becomes official soon. That update separates Dvalishvili’s two current public messages. On the RAF Georgia matter, he says the direct dispute with Ahmad ended in a handshake even as he rejects outside criticism. On Yan, he says he is waiting for the contractual and promotional process to produce an official announcement. In each case, Dvalishvili used the video to state his own position rather than leave the discussion to others.

• Merab Dvalishvili said he found Ahmad after the confrontation, shook his hand and considered the matter finished between them.
• Merab Dvalishvili said he is waiting for Petr Yan to sign a contract and for the UFC to announce their hoped-for trilogy fight.

Merab Dvalishvili’s response centers on two clear claims: he believes his reaction at RAF Georgia came after an unacceptable approach, and he says the direct issue with Ahmad was resolved through a handshake. While rejecting continued criticism from Nurmagomedov and others, Dvalishvili also used the moment to restate that he is ready for a third fight with Yan if it is made official.

Sources: MMA Fighting; BJPenn; MiddleEasy