Dvalishvili, Nurmagomedov get heated over nationality

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The bickering and back-and-forth between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov continues.

The two UFC bantamweights, who meet in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 311, got into it once again at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference. This time around, Dvalishvili, who enters the bout as the defending champion, began the arguing by questioning Nurmagomedov on his nationality, which came in response to Nurmagomedov, saying he was more Georgian than him earlier in the week.

“That’s another bullsh*t from him,” Dvalishvili said. “Of course, he’s not Georgian. He can’t even represent Dagestan; he represents Russia. Umar, on Saturday night, you’re going to find out.

“Umar, I have a question: Where are you from?”

Nurmagomedov replied, “From Russia and Dagestan,” which caused a laugh for Dvalishvili.

Nurmagomedov went on to question Dvalishvili on why he’s living in the U.S. and not Georgia. The two argued, and eventually transitioned to other topics of debate more fight related.

Russia and Georgia have a long and complicated history. Since Georgia’s independence from Russia in 1918, there’s been many conflicts and invasions from Russia. The most recent, big escalation between the two countries led to a war, known as the Russo-Georgian War of 2008.

You can watch their full back-and-forth in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.