Merab Dvalishvili, a bantamweight fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, recently made a dig at Henry Cejudo, his forthcoming opponent and a former bantamweight champion, by courting Cejudo’s longtime coach to compete against him.
It was during this encounter that Dvalishvili made contact with Eric Albarracin, who has been Cejudo’s coach ever since he competed in the Olympic Games. Dvalishvili urged Albarracin to assist in the fight against ‘Triple C’. Before a clip from an edition of Countdown that was a preview of the forthcoming UFC 298 pay-per-view was broadcast, Albarracin scoffed at the request. Cejudo then fired him from his position.
Throughout my most recent Olympic trials, you have been by my side, and you have been there for me. I just wanted to let you know that as of right now, I am getting rid of certain coaches for this camp, guy. I just wanted to let you know that just so you know. Yes, that includes you as well, buddy.
Following that, Dvalishvili made a funny reference to Albarracin by calling him “my coach.”
Take a look at the following post that Merab Dvalishvili made on Instagram:
Aljamain Sterling, a fellow teammate, and Nina-Marie Daniele, an influencer in mixed martial arts, both responded to the edit that Dvalishvili shared on his Instagram account, which provided a recount of the events that transpired.
“😂😂😂😂 “I love my coach!”””Merab P4P funniest UFC fighter! 🦾 🇬🇪 😂””Bro the best parts of my day are when you post on instagram 😂”
The comedic take that Dvalishvili took on Albarracin’s decision to part ways with Cejudo and made reference to his previous adventures, which included snatching Sean O’Malley’s jacket, was well received by the audience.
“Merab’s trolling is underrated 😂””Everyone needs a friend like Merab, he is random af 😭😂””Merab stole a jacket, a coach, next is Iangarry’s wife”
Take a look at the following screenshots to see the comments that fans and other fighters have left on Instagram:
Comments made by fans on a post that Merab Dvalishvili made on Instagram. [with the use of Instagram]
Comments made by fans on a post that Merab Dvalishvili made on Instagram. [with the use of Instagram]
Afterwards, Cejudo made it clear that he had not terminated Albarracin’s employment, indicating that the incident was a prank that was planned and that the two were inseparable.
Merab Dvalishvili believes his matchup against Henry Cejudo is the ‘number one contender fight’
Merab Dvalishvili is now ranked second in the bantamweight division, with Aljamain Sterling, a former champion and teammate, being the only one higher on the list.
Due to the fact that Marlon Vera will be competing against Sean O’Malley at UFC 299. Dvalishvili will not be challenging in the first place. On the other hand, “The Machine” is confident that if he prevails over Cejudo, he would solidify his position as the next challenger.
According to what he said in an interview with the UFC:
It is my opinion that this battle is a candidate for the number one spot. It is my belief that the victor among us will compete for the championship. In the event that I am victorious over Henry Cejudo, I am confident that I will be the leading candidate to compete for the title. This is especially true considering that I will be on a winning streak of ten fights and that it will be my third victory over a former UFC champion. I will be the first person to ever do that in order to compete for the title; nobody other has done that before. [credit to the UFC]
