{"id":40144,"date":"2026-08-27T03:44:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T03:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Merab-Dvalishvili-clears-air-on-Islam-Makhachev-Russian-flag-controversy-202552"},"modified":"2026-08-27T03:44:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T03:44:02","slug":"merab-dvalishvili-clears-air-on-islam-makhachev-russian-flag-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/merab-dvalishvili-clears-air-on-islam-makhachev-russian-flag-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Merab Dvalishvili clears air on Islam Makhachev, Russian flag controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Merab
\nDvalishvili<\/a> has clarified that he has no bad blood with
\nIslam
\nMakhachev<\/a> despite what the latter believes.<\/p>\n

The former
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a> bantamweight titleholder
\naddressed recent comments from Makhachev after the welterweight
\nchamp appeared to accuse Dvalishvili of being unhappy with his
\nsuccess after he defended his title against Ian Garry<\/a> at
\nUFC
\n330<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Merab Dvalishvili explains what really upset him after Islam
\nMakhachev’s UFC 330 win<\/h2>\n

Dvalishvili explained on social media that his frustration with
\nMakhachev’s victory at UFC 330 was directed at the latter’s team
\nbringing a Russian flag into the Octagon, rather than at the
\nchampion himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like Islam Makhachev,\u201d Dvalishvili wrote on X. \u201cI think he\u2019s a
\ngreat and humble champion. I respect all the hard work he has put
\ninto his career, I have nothing but respect for him. But when I saw
\nhis team bring the Russian flag into the Octagon, I was upset. And
\nthe reason I reacted that way is because, first during all five of
\nmy UFC title fights, I was never allowed to bring my Georgian or
\nAmerican flag into the cage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dvalishvili further clarified that his problem is with Russian
\npolitics, rather than people from the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecond reason for me, this is very personal because of what
\nRussian politics and the Russian government have done to my
\ncountry,\u201d Dvalishvili added. \u201cRussia occupies around 20% of
\nGeorgia, and there has been a history of war, occupation, and
\nsuffering against my Georgian people. Russia has also been
\nresponsible for terrible violence in Chechnya, and they are still
\nkilling people in Ukraine today. I also want to make one thing very
\nclear: I don\u2019t hate Russian people. I hate Russian politics and the
\nRussian government. My problem is with the government and its
\nactions, not with ordinary Russian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dvalishvili also accused Russian media of portraying his comments
\nunfairly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Russian media is always asking me provocative questions, but
\nthey will never translate this video honestly or show what I\u2019m
\nactually saying, because it doesn\u2019t fit the narrative they want to
\ncreate,\u201d he concluded. \u201cThere is no freedom of speech and if you
\nprotest anything in Russia you go to jail. This is facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

This comes amid growing tension between Dvalishvili and the
\nDagestani team, with Umar
\nNurmagomedov<\/a> claiming that their rivalry is personal.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

I like Islam
\nMakhachev<\/a>. I think he\u2019s a great and humble champion. I respect
\nall the hard work he has put into his career, I have nothing but
\nrespect for him.
But when I saw his team bring the Russian flag into the Octagon, I
\nwas upset. And the reason I reacted that way is\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/sdUd8fsr97<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Merab \u201cThe Machine\u201d Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil)
\nAugust 26, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/center> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Merab Dvalishvili has clarified that he has no bad blood with Islam Makhachev despite what the latter believes. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight titleholder addressed recent comments from Makhachev after the welterweight champ appeared to accuse Dvalishvili of being unhappy with his success after he defended his title against Ian Garry at UFC 330. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}