Merab Dvalishvili Denied Entry To UFC PI Due To Umar Nurmagomedov Being There

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has claimed that he’s been denied entry to the UFC’s Performance Institute due to the fact that his next opponent Umar Nurmagomedov was training inside.

“I’m here out front of the UFC P.I., and security don’t let me go in because they said, ‘Umar Nurmagomedov is inside,’ and they are protecting him,” Dvalishvili said in a video posted on X. “Don’t worry, guys. I’m not going to smash him before the fight. But Jan. 18, different story. I’m not able to go in UFC P.I. because I was supposed to get treatment for my injury. I was supposed to sign some cards. I was supposed to eat lunch with my friends. What the heck? I’m going to smash this guy because of all the disrespect, all the lies he was saying.

“You better show up, Umar. Today, you’re protected. Don’t worry, I’m not going to punch you before the fight. But Jan. 18, no one will protect you.”

Technically all UFC fighters are allowed access to the UFC’s PI in Las Vegas, but given the bad blood between these two and the fact that Dvalishvili has been in a few scuffles with fans in the past year, it seems that they didn’t trust the two of them to be in the building at the same time.

And it wouldn’t be the first time that UFC stars have confronted each other there as Manel Kape was alleged to have headbutted and elbowed Muhammad Mokaev outside the gym early in the year, while Ailin Perez and Joselyne Edwards reportedly had a scuffle there in November of 2023, and not forgetting Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa squaring up to each other there too back in 2022.