UFC fans have been divided by Merab Dvalishvili’s latest comments, where he stated that he must defeat Petr Yan because of his Russian nationality.
Dvalishvili and Yan are set to go head-to-head in a bantamweight clash in the main event of UFC Fight Night 221 this weekend. ‘The Machine’ will put his eight-fight win streak on the line against ‘No Mercy, who is 1-3 in his last four appearances.
In the build-up to their clash this week, Merab Dvalishvili has conducted multiple interviews where he has spoken about his home country of Georgia and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In one interview, he said:
“This is personal for me. He’s from Russia. I’m from Georgia and we all know Russia, what they are doing to Ukraine now, what they did to Georgia. Russia is not a democratic country. I want to win for my people.”
MMA fans have been left divided in the comments, with some praising Dvalishvili for condemning the ongoing conflict and others stating politics has no place in the octagon.
One fan joked that Petr Yan would win the fight with the use of nuclear weapons:
“Yan by nuclear invasion”
Another fan stated that ‘The Machine’ is fully entitled to his opinion on the matter:
“He has a right to his opinion. He didn’t say anything derogatory about Yan, and it’s a current event that’s affecting his home and many others.”
Check out more fan reactions below:
Petr Yan hits back at Merab Dvalishvili’s comments
No.2-ranked bantamweight Petr Yan has hit back at Merab Dvalishvili after the Georgian fighter made a number of personal comments toward the Russian fighter.
Speaking to the media at the pre-fight press conference this week, ‘No Mercy’ was asked to address the comments made by ‘The Machine’. According to Yan, Dvalishvili is only highlighting the conflict in Ukraine and the issues between Russia and Georgia as a way of gathering attention:
“I think he doesn’t have any other way to bring attention to himself, you know? He cannot do it with his fights. [Merab] is just trying to take a little attention with something else, one is interested in him.”
The Russian fighter is vying to turn around his two-fight skid after he came up short against Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley. Both results were controversial split-decision losses, and a decisive win over the No.3-ranked Dvalishvili could put ‘No Mercy’ back on track for another shot at the title.
Catch Petr Yan’s comments here:
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