We might be over a month away from the bantamweight title bout, but the fireworks have already started flying.
Bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili and upcoming opponent Umar Nurmagomedov nearly got into a fight backstage at an event to promote UFC 311, ahead of this weekend's UFC 310 card.
The two had to be separated by security as words were exchanged between the two fighters.
According to Sportsnet's Aaron Bronsteter, Dvalishvili had just finished an interview before seeing Nurmagomedov. He decided to confront his belt challenger and ask why he was disrespecting him.
It's unclear what the second-ranked bantamweight contender said about the champion to provoke the altercation.
Nurmagomedov, a Dagestan native, has been on a hot run to start his UFC career, sitting pretty at 7-0 in the promotion with an overall 18-0 record in pro MMA. His last two fights went to the judges, unanimously beating Bekzat Almakhan and Cory Sandhagen to earn a shot at the title.
He's a cousin of the famed undefeated former UFC Lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Dvalishvili, meanwhile, will into the bout wearing a championship belt for the first time. He snatched the undisputed bantamweight champion title from Sean O'Malley at UFC 306 in September, taking down "Suga" via unanimous decision.
"The Machine" has an 18-4 pro MMA record, with his last loss in UFC coming against Ricky Simón in 2018.
The two scrappy grappling masterminds will go head-to-head in Inglewood, Calif., at UFC 311 on Jan. 18, the first pay-per-view card of 2025. Headlining the event is a lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan.
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