Merab Dvalishvili made all types of headlines this previous weekend, but it surely was teammate Dennis Buzukja who was caught on tape getting bodily with a fan.
Buzukja and Dvalishvili have been in attendance at UFC 310 in Las Vegas to nook Aljamain Sterling, who misplaced a unanimous resolution to Movsar Evloev on Saturday. Because the staff walked to the again, an altercation erupted between a fan and Dvalishvili, and Buzukja ended up buying and selling punches with the fan. Dvalishvili later shared a video claiming that the person in query was an affiliate of Umar Nurmagomedov, who challenges Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title at UFC 311 on Jan. 18.
On Sterling’s The Weekly Scraps Podcast, Sterling and Buzukja shared their recollection of the incident.
“Apparently this man is a consultant of Kazakhstan and buddies with a few of the [Dagestani] boys and that was very attention-grabbing,” Sterling mentioned. “I assume he was upsetting Merab on the way in which in to the world after which on the way in which out as nicely. He put his hand on Merab’s shoulder to get his consideration and whatnot, mentioned no matter he mentioned, I don’t know. But it surely looks like he provoked the entire shit to begin.”
Within the video that first circulated on social media, Dvalishvili is barely seen being pulled away by safety and it’s unclear what occurred earlier than that. The video Dvalishvili later shared appeared to point out the fan grabbing Dvalishvili’s arm first.
In response to Buzukja, the fan truly antagonized them in the course of the walkout after which made his method by means of the gang to once more confront the staff as they exited from the octagon.
“I don’t know if he had touched Merab as we have been strolling in, however by some means he acquired Merab’s consideration after which Merab went and tapped his shoulder and simply gave him the finger after which the man gave him the finger again or no matter, he acquired all jumpy,” Buzukja mentioned.
“Then because the struggle completed and we’re strolling again on the opposite aspect, this f*cking man comes throughout the entire crowd after which goes and, you’ve seen the video, he grabs Merab’s arm after which says one thing to him in, I assume Russian or no matter he mentioned, and Merab began going loopy. Then we acquired into a bit bodily altercation, however that was actually it. So hopefully no fees pressed and we transfer on.”
That “little bodily altercation” concerned Buzukja and the fan touchdown clear punches on each other earlier than safety intervened. It’s not one thing Buzukja deliberate, and he’s relieved it didn’t escalate past that.
“I went and approached him and I simply put his hand down, I used to be making an attempt to deescalate and inform him, ‘Yo, settle down, bro. Calm down,’” Buzukja mentioned. “Merab was going away, I simply needed to inform him to chill out, have some respect. Then he cracked me first, truly, he cracked me with a pleasant little left hook after which it was simply intuition to hit him again. Then safety got here in, however a part of me is like, ‘Ought to I simply drop the bucket and simply bounce over and begin swinging?’ Simply go full, f*cking degenerate, however I’m glad it didn’t occur that method.”
It’s not but identified if any of the fighters concerned will obtain any reprimand or penalty from the UFC or the Nevada State Athletic Fee. Sterling is a former UFC bantamweight champion presently competing at 145 kilos, whereas Buzukja continues to be comparatively new to the promotion, having gone 1-3 since debuting in 2023.
The entire incident left Sterling confused. If it’s true that the fan was an affiliate of Nurmagomedov’s staff, Sterling thinks his habits is at odds with the stoic and respectful code that they supposedly stand for.
“My factor is, he’s buddies with these guys and so they’re so large on respect,” Sterling mentioned. “Why do you have got your guys being assh*les? Like, in America, we are saying motherf*ckers, proper? They don’t like after we name them a motherf*cker as a result of it’s just like the literal time period such as you f*cked your mom or no matter. However you’re being a motherf*cker by doing that.
“What are you doing? You’re being a whole assh*le. You reap what you sow. Why are you doing that? I don’t know, it’s bizarre.”
