“I’m here at UFC PI and security don’t let me go in because they said Umar Nurmagomedov is inside and they are protecting him. Don’t worry, guys, I’m not gonna smash before the fight…I’m not able to go in UFC PI because I was supposed to get treatment for my injuries… eat lunch with my friends,” Merab Dvalishvili alleged in a video from outside the PI in December last year. The Georgian champion was clearly not happy with the ‘preferential’ treatment the UFC was giving his then-opponent Umar Nurmagomedov. But things were not quite as they seemed, according to UFC legend and Vice President of Athlete Development at the PI, Forrest Griffin.

“I heard you locked Merab out of the UFC PI, you said he couldn’t go in there because Islam was in there… he also said because of Umar, as well,” Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s co-host, Bear Digedio asked Griffin on the JAXXON podcast. Merab Dvalishvili complained that he wasn’t allowed to enter the facility itself, because of Umar Nurmagomedov. But was this really the case?

“He can’t use the mats when the mats are booked, that’s all,” the TUF season 1 winner clarified. “There’s not a lock on the door. Like, you come in, you can do strength and conditioning, you can go into the recovery room, you can eat your meals. You can do all kinds of stuff but you can’t go up on the mats when the guy you’re going to fight is up on the mats.”

In addition, he clarified that every fighter needs to actually book the services they’re going to use. And it seems that Umar Nurmagomedov and his team had booked the services Dvalishvili wanted to use. “Basically, it’s a first come first serve. If you book an area or a service, we will not let your competitor have it during the time you have it booked. Now, you can’t book something for more than like three or four hours a day, right. So there’s there’s times you can use the mats but you can’t like just rock up,” Griffin added.

To be fair to Griffin, it does seem like a good idea to not let rivals who are about to fight be in close proximity to each other. Most UFC fighters are generally restrained, but there is always a possibility of tempers flaring and guys getting into a brawl if they are too close together. Especially with a fighter as prickly as ‘The Machine’. But with Nurmagomedov dealt with, there is one question on most fans’ minds.

What next for Merab Dvalishvili?

Merab Dvalishvili may have felt humiliated at being denied entry into the PI, but at least he got the last laugh over Umar Nurmagomedov at their UFC 311 clash. The Georgian champ was pretty motivated going into the fight since he famously felt disrespected by ‘Young Eagle’ and didn’t think he deserved a title shot.

Not to mention, the Dagestani was the betting underdog going into that fight despite being the reigning champ. However, Dvalishili proved just why he was the champion, coming back strong in the later rounds to win a unanimous decision victory over ‘Young Eagle’. But with Umar Nurmagomedov dealt with, there are no real contenders who jump off the page for him to fight in the division at the moment.

So naturally, fans are curious about who his next opponent might be. And ‘The Machine’ reportedly spoke about this in a press conference he held in his native Georgia a few days ago. According to X account, She Loves the Gloves, who was at the press conference Dvalishvili said that he will be going into a rematch for his next fight- either with Sean O’Malley or Petr Yan this June. Apparently, this presser wasn’t recorded and has been reported in only the Georgian language press.

“@MerabDvalishvili is holding a press-conference in Georgia right now. He says the UFC is planning for his next fight to happen in June, with either Petr Yan or Sean O’Malley being his opponent. He then would like to fight the next contender in NY in November,” she wrote in an X post. What do you think about Forrest Griffin’s clarification about Merab Dvalishvili being ‘locked out’ of the UFC PI?