Henry Cejudo caught a lot of eyebrows when he started speaking in Russian to Merab Dvalishvili during the heated face-off ahead of UFC 298. It prompted many fans to wonder what’s Merab Dvalishvili’s relationship with Russia.
A closer look at this hilarious face-off between Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo 😂
Henry: *speaks russian*
Merab: HEY IM GEORGIAN, I DONT SPEAK RUSSIAN.
Henry: You’re going to Saturday night
Merab: ILL TALK IN SPANISH, OKAY#UFC298
pic.twitter.com/y8UHotBwFH— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 17, 2024
The UFC Bantamweight from Georgia is not a big supporter of Russia. Merab Dvalishvili has revealed his dislike for the nation in the past, openly sharing his views about the Russia-Ukraine war and his country’s shared history.
Merab Dvalishvili is not a fan of Russian fighter Petr Yan
Dvalishvili holds a massive grudge against his former opponent, Petr Yan. The UFC bantamweight took on former UFC Champion Petr Yan in a five-round fight in March 2023, picking up a comfortable victory to extend his winning streak to 9 straight wins.
However, the build-up to this fight wasn’t without its fair share of back and forth. Sharing his dislike for Petr Yan, Merab Dvalishvili also shared why he has no respect for Russia. His comments did not go down well with many UFC fans, who didn’t like Dvalishvili bringing politics into the fights.
“This fight is not only a fight; it’s personal to me,” Dvalishvili said. “He’s from Russia, I’m from Georgia. We all know Russia what they’re doing to Ukraine now, [and] what they did to Georgia. Russia is not a democratic country. I know I want to win for my people. I have so much support from my country and so much support from Ukraine, too.” Dvalishvili said.
Referring to the Russian war crimes in Georgia, Dvalishvili kept his political and personal beliefs quite in the open while talking about Petr Yan’s “Russian bully” behaviour.
A closer look at the history of Georgia and Russia will remind you of the horrors of war. Possibly the first European war of the 21st century, the Russo-Georgian war lasted 16 days from 1-16 August in 2008. The treacherous days saw war crimes against ethnic Georgians and displaced thousands of people from their homeland.
For someone like Merab Dvalishvili, it’s not something he can put at the back of his head and not address in public. He proudly represents his country of Georgia and never fails to don the Georgian flag on his shoulders whenever he steps inside the UFC Octagon.