Even though UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili received all the attention, his teammate and friend, Dennis Buzukja, was the one throwing punches with a fan at UFC 310.
The incident happened after Aljamain Sterling’s unanimous decision loss to Movsar Evloev at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Devalishvili and Buzukja were in Sterling’s corner and afterward, as they walked back to the locker room, an altercation broke out between Dvalishvili and the fan. Original cell phone video showed Dvalishvili being restrained by a security guard and Buzukja approaching the man and exchanging punches before he, too, was restrained.
As it turns out, Dvalishvili shared an edited video on social media that not only included an alternate angle of what sparked the moment but also the identity of the fan, Arman Tugaev, a Kazakh who was there to support Shavkat Rakhmonov. However, Dvalishvili believes Tugaev was planted by upcoming title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov to deliberately provoke him.
Photos of Tugaev and Team Nurmagomedov were posted to the fighter’s Instagram Stories after the event. Past photos also exist of Tugaev with other members of the team, including Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Less than 48 hours later, Buzujka offered his account of what happened.
“I don’t know if he had touched Merab as we were walking in, but somehow he got Merab’s attention and then Merab went and tapped his shoulder and just gave him the finger, and then the guy gave him the finger back or whatever,” Buzujka said on “The Weekly Scraps” podcast with Sterling. “He got all jumpy.
“Then as the fight finished and we’re walking back on the other side, this f*cking guy comes across the whole crowd and then goes and, you’ve seen the video, he grabs Merab’s arm and then says something to him in, I guess Russian or whatever, and Merab started going crazy. Then we got into a little physical altercation, but that was really it. So hopefully no charges pressed and we move on.”
Buzujka said he was trying to make peace when he approached Tugaev, but that’s not how the situation played out. He’s glad it wasn’t worse than simply landing a couple of punches on each other.
“I went and approached him, and I just put his hand down,” Buzujka said. “I was trying to deescalate and tell him, ‘Yo, calm down, bro. Relax.’ Merab was going away. I just wanted to tell him to relax, have some respect. Then he cracked me first. Actually he cracked me with a nice little left hook, and then it was just instinct to hit him back. Then security came in, but part of me is like, ‘Should I just drop the bucket and just jump over and start swinging?’ Just go full f*cking degenerate, but I’m glad it didn’t happen that way.”
With Dvalishvili and Buzujka sanctioned by the Nevada Athletic Commission to corner Sterling, it’s unclear if any punishment could be coming down from the NAC. UFC CEO Dana White mostly downplayed the situation after UFC 310.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
