Team Khabib trolls Merab Dvalishvili with quirky post after being denied entry in UFC PI

Merab Dvalishvili denied entry to the UFC PI because of Umar Nurmagomedov before UFC 311; Islam Makhachev pokes him on it.

Team Khabib trolls Merab Dvalishvili with quirky post after being denied entry in UFC PI

Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov poke fun at Merab Dvalishvili (Source: X/IMAGO)

Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili still believes Umar Nurmagomedov gets special treatment from UFC. This comes on the back of a frustrating experience at the UFC Performance Institute on Monday. But ‘Young Eagle’ is living to his own beats. To that end, Nurmagomedov and Team Khabib’s current golden goose Islam Makhachev troll the bantamweight champ for it.

According to Dvalishvili, he was denied access to the Las Vegas facility because of his upcoming opponent. Umar Nurmagomedov was already in the UFC PI for his UFC 311 bantamweight title scrap. Given his long track record of punching up people, it’s no big shocker that Merab Dvalishvili couldn’t enter. Now, Islam Makhachev disses him on it.

The post in discussion is a snap of the reigning 155-pound king and Umar Nurmagomedov himself at UFC PI. Feel free to substitute Makhachev for someone else here, with an overhaul on his accounts. Dominance MMA Management’s Ali Abdelaziz also made a recent flub of tweeting as Umar in the third person, talking about Umar! However, on this one occasion, the friction might be true.

Dvalishvili has been extremely aggressive towards Nurmagomedov. He feels he was given an undeserved shot at the title. ‘Machine’ feels Nurmagomedov was rushed to the belt because of his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov’s legacy.

Tensions were high between them at the UFC 311 pre-sale press conference earlier this month. This latest incident only adds fuel to the fire. The only deterrent Umar could have right now is that coach Khabib is feeling out of it.

Coach Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t like new UFC role but ‘has to be here’

Khabib Nurmagomedov has tried to get out of the scope of MMA a lot. He has been it all and done it all as a legendary lightweight. ‘The Eagle’ and his sticky top-mount action punctuated a tenure that bagged him performance rewards, Best Submission ESPYs, and so on. He wins awards based on it even to this day. Hence, he wanted out.

Cousin Umar Nurmagomedov and 155lbs king Islam Makhachev have stout cornerman
Cousin Umar Nurmagomedov and 155lbs king Islam Makhachev have stout cornerman (Source: X)

Even in the training room, however, Nurmagomedov has been visibly stressed on more than one occasion as he has watched his athletes off in the corner. At one point he even tried to quit the sport altogether, but it didn’t work out. Khabib has outdone himself in coaching stints cornering friends and family, per AKA coach Javier Mendez.

Mendez said he had room to improve, but just like his fighting days, he can be legendary as a coach. Speaking with Demetrious Johnson recently though, ‘The Eagle’ confessed not liking his newfound coaching capacity at all.

I don’t like [coaching] but I have to be here, …It’s gonna be a very big night for us on UFC 311, with Tagir [Ulanbekov], Umar for the title and Islam defends his belt. I cannot be home, I have to be here, but I don’t like this…

Khabib Nurmagomedov on the “MIGHTY” Podcast

Khabib coaches Umar Nurmagomedov as well as Islam Makhachev this UFC 311. He already has some pent-up issues about that. If the duo got through their title affairs at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, he would have made history yet again. Come this January, a lot of eyes would be on the Dagestani dynasty.

Related: Khabib Nurmagomedov already stressing as ‘brothers’ Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov fight at UFC 311