Merab Dvalishvili brought his entire team together to mock Umar Nurmagomedov ahead of their upcoming UFC 311 title fight.
Just hours after announcing their UFC 311 fight, bad blood boiled over between UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and undefeated contender Umar Nurmagomedov. After initially appearing to reject Nurmagomedov's title shot bid, Dvalishvili will face the undefeated bantamweight in his first title defense.
Ahead of their UFC 311 grudge match, Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov came face-to-face at a pre-fight press conference last week. The press conference was advertised because just hours before, Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov almost got into an all-out brawl backstage.
During the press conference, Dvalishvili threw a hilarious joke at Nurmagomedov and his teammate, Islam Makhachev, about a year-old photo of Makhachev and other Team Khabib members in a hot tub. While Makhachev seemed to accept Dvalishvili's joke, Nurmagomedov was confused by Dvalishvili's reference, as it appeared he was not in the original photo.
Days after the UFC 311 pre-fight press conference, Dvalishvili took his trolling a whole level by recreating the infamous Team Khabib hot tub photo.
Merab Dvalishvili viciously trolls Umar Nurmagomedov with Jacuzzi recreation
“Thanks[s] for taking the photo Khabib's cousin – we're good for now until the fight. See you on January 18th. LFG,” Dvalishvili posted on his X account on Wednesday.
Below you can see Dvalishvili's recreation, which quickly made the rounds on social media. Dvalishvili gathered his entire team for it, including former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.
At the time of writing, Nurmagomedov and his teammates have not yet responded to Dvalishvili's troll job. Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili have been trading barbs online for months, ever since Dvalishvili made a case for Deiveson Figueiredo to earn a title shot over Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov earned the title shot after recent victories over Cory Sandhagen, Bekzat Almakhan and Raoni Barcelos. He is the cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will be in his corner for UFC 311.
@MerabDvalishvil / X
There are more and more mind games between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov
Things did not cool down after Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov's altercations at the UFC 311 press conference. As Dvalishvili left T-Mobile Arena at UFC 310 after cornering Sterling, an ally of Nurmagomedov threw insults at Dvalishvili and got into a punchout with Dvalishvili's teammate, Dennis Buzukja.
After it was initially thought Dvalishvili came into contact with a random fan in the crowd at UFC 310, the fan was linked to Nurmagomedov's team after a series of photos of them together made the rounds online. As of this writing, it is uncertain whether the Nevada State Athletic Commission is investigating the incident and whether any penalties will be served.
In the run-up to UFC 311, bad blood is boiling between Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov. But Dvalishvili's recent post showed some lighthearted fun amid their budding rivalry.
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