Merab Dvalishvili has vowed not to kiss Umar Nurmagomedov after performing the hilarious stunt in his last fight.
In the main event of UFC 306, Dvalishvili found himself in a dominant position over Sean O'Malley on his way to winning his bantamweight title. And with seconds left in the round, he goaded his rival by kissing him on the back several times before referee Herb Dean warned him about the move.
This time at UFC 311, there appears to be a much more heated feud between the two title contenders, and no such antics will take place. Instead, Dvalishvili insists he will just fight his way to victory.
Merab Dvalishvili explains why he is so angry with Umar Nurmagomedov
While Merab Dvalishvili has never been particularly friendly to his opponents, his feud with Umar Nurmagomedov seems to be on another level. The pair almost collided and were even told to stagger their training times to avoid clashes at the UFC Performance Institute.
Speaking exclusively to Bloody Elbow as part of his partnership with Stake, the bantamweight champion explained: “Nurmagomedov is actually cocky. That's his problem. He thinks he did this easily, but he never confronted me.
“And believe me, he'll know tonight. He will realize that he is going to fight me and he will be humble. I never said he wasn't a good fighter. I say he's a good fighter, but he takes the shortcut, you know.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
“He cheated a bit because he didn't fight anyone and guys on their debut. And then as a debutant he fought number two, you know, that's a gift and that's a shortcut. And that's not how you want to earn your title fight.
'That's not right. I think he should have fought one more. Maybe against Song Yadong. But when the UFC asked me, I said, okay, I'll fight him.
“But I wanted to fight in February or March. But that's what I said. Why don't I like him? Because he called me a fake champion. Moreover, he was disrespectful to my country.”
Merab Dvalishvili kissed Sean O'Malley at UFC 306, but won't do the same at UFC 311
One of the most bizarre moments of the UFC 306 main event came at the end of the second round, when Dvalishvili had O'Malley in a dominant position. However, he would never lock in a guillotine that would end a fight, and instead opted to use his position for some gamesmanship.
He planted a few kisses on O'Malley's back before standing up for the bell, much to Herb Dean's chagrin. The champion then got back up and started throwing punches, but it was just too little too late and his challenger survived.
And when asked if he wanted to repeat the stunt again at the end of Bloody Elbow's chat, Dvalishvili laughed off the idea and joked that there would be “no kiss, just a slap!” He also refused to be swayed by the reason he behaved the way he did.
UFC boss Dana White called him “weird” for his behavior that night, telling the media, “The kissing in the back and getting up and walking away at the bell? I have no idea, Merab is doing some nonsense. It was weird, but not shocking!”
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