This past weekend the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational grappling tournament went down in Las Vegas, and UFC bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili was in attendance, but he had a minor run in with a spectator.
Dvalishvili, the number one ranked contender at 135-pounds, will square off with the division’s champion in Sean O’Malley come September at UFC 306.
During CJI, Dvalishvili climbed through the Thomas & Mack Center stands to engage in a light altercation with a fan. Apparently, the spectator had been heckling the UFC bantamweight, who feels he responded accordingly.
UFC fighter Merab Dvalishvili just jumped the gate and grabbed a heckler by the hair 😳pic.twitter.com/5Lfmk2pusI
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) August 17, 2024
On an episode of the TimboSugarShow earlier this week, O’Malley touched on the incident, and is wondering if his upcoming opponent may be facing legal trouble.
“Merab had a little freakout,” O’Malley said. “This is what I heard: someone said ‘Suga’s your daddy!’ or something like that. So Merab climbs this three-foot fence, gets stuck damn near trying to get over, tries to jump over the other fence, and walks up there with his sassy hips and pulls his hair. That kid could sue him, 100 percent. You’re not allowed to physically touch someone else in public, that’s illegal…
“If that kid sued him, lawyer fees, lawyer this and lawyer that, it’s stressful. So if that kid decided to sue him right now, Merab might not make it to the fight…we’re in his head, so keep poking at him!”
UFC 306, also known as Noche UFC, will take place on September 14th, celebrating Mexican Independence Day. Additionally, this will be the first combat sports event to take place inside the Las Vegas Sphere.