Video | Merab Dvalishvili climbs into stands to confront trash-talking fan at UFC San Antonio

UFC fighter Merab Dvalishvili threatened to throw down with a fan over the weekend after being antagonised from the stands.

Earlier this month, Merab Dvalishvili recorded the biggest win of his career thus far. He beat, and somewhat dominated, Petr Yan over the course of a five-round bantamweight contest.

However, while he’d usually be one of the surefire next contenders for the belt, it doesn’t seem as if that’s the case. Aljamain Sterling is set to square off with Henry Cejudo for the title but in addition to that, Sterling and Merab are close friends and teammates. They’ve also both said they wouldn’t be overly interested in fighting one another.

At UFC San Antonio, one fan in the stands spotted Dvalishvili and threw ‘ducking’ accusations at him. It’s safe to say that the Georgian sensation didn’t take too kindly to that.

Merab was ready to throw HANDS pic.twitter.com/CzYuZ0z7BT

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) March 26, 2023

Dvalishvili heard what he had to say before climbing up the railings, indicating that he wanted to fight the fan in question. Eventually, though, cooler heads prevailed, and everyone moved on with their lives.

The Dvalishvili/Sterling issue

There’s clearly a real problem at play here for both men. UFC president Dana White has already criticised Merab for this decision, suggesting it’s not the smart move.

On the flip side, Cory Sandhagen did call him out following his win over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at the same San Antonio event. If the UFC decides to put those two against one another, they could be killing two birds with one stone.

As for the belt, you’ve always got Sean O’Malley waiting in the wings for the Sterling/Cejudo winner later this year.

What do you think about Merab Dvalishvili’s reaction to this fan? If we did ever get to see that fight, who would come out on top? Let us know in the comments, BJPENN Nation!