When Conor McGregor shows praise, he heaps it. Take Merab Dvalishvili, for example. Even after seeing the Georgian’s last MMA defeat via a technical choke at UFC Fight Night 128, ‘The Notorious’ had nothing but praise for the bantamweight champion. ‘Mystic Mac’ was already a fan of ‘The Machine,’ and those sentiments were reciprocated by Dvalishvili as well. So, what was said in the latest episode of this bromance?
MMA On Point recently shared a visual from UFC Fight Night 128, where Dvalishvili survived almost a minute with Ricky Simon trying to choke him out while on top mount. The caption of the post read, “Merab getting choked for a minute straight and not tapping out or going out . It was deemed a technical submission loss for the UFC champ at the end. His last loss in MMA.” McGregor happened to stumble across the post and couldn’t hide his feelings for the 34-year-old Georgian. Reacting to the post, ‘The Notorious’ wrote, “And now, years on, the reigning, defending UFC World Champion! Magnificent! Merab is A Star! ”
Before we get to it, let me tell you that McGregor and Dvalishvili have interacted once before when Aljamain Sterling was set to fight Henry Cejudo. And that’s when ‘The Machine’ realized that ‘Mystic Mac’ was actually a humble man in person, far from his persona in front of a camera. At the post-fight press conference for UFC Fight Night 221, Dvalishvili weighed in on his meeting with McGregor. He claimed that his respect for the Irishman skyrocketed after his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Yes, even after ‘The Notorious’ had to tap out. And in return, McGregor said that he liked Dvalishvili’s work.
Then there was the time in 2024, when Dvalishvili tried to fight a fan who was heckling him from the stands at the Craig Jones Invitational. Resposting a clip of the altercation on his Instagram stories, McGregor wrote, “A legend is Merab! Careful how you speak on people or to people for some people are going through things in their life where they just don’t give a f–k about the consequences anymore and guess what then, you’re up sh–s creek without a paddle.”
So, it really is no surprise that McGregor left words of encouragement under a post that showed the last time Merab came up short in a fight. But is that all there is to it? Or is there an agenda behind this show of support?
Soon, MMA Pros Pick shared the news on Instagram. They pointed out that Dvalishvili’s last loss happened 7 years ago, and since then, he has been on a 12-fight win streak. The fans saw what McGregor had to say to Dvalishvili, they swooped into the comments section with their thoughts, and a few of them are not sold on the Irishman’s words.
Is Conor McGregor’s support for Merab Dvalishvili conditional? Fans discuss
Most fight fans had one thought on their mind. And that was about McGregor’s animosity towards the Dagestani fighters. Of course, that hatred stemmed from his rivalry with Nurmagomedov. But they believed that McGregor’s soft spot for ‘The Machine’ was because he absolutely destroyed Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. One of the fans wrote, “Connor showing love to those who successfully beat Dagis.” Another fan added, “He only likes merab because he beat umar lmao.” Some of the fans claimed that ‘Mystic Mac’ often dreamed of defeating a Dagestani fighter but never really got a chance to do so after losing to Nurmagomedov. But Dvalishvili did that with great finesse. A comment read, “Merab did something Conor was dreaming about.”
There is a flaw to this argument, however. McGregor and Dvalishvili have been on each other’s good books long before the Umar fight. The last time they showed support to each other was also before the Umar-Merab rivalry started taking shape.
A few others weighed in on McGregor’s mindset and wrote, “Conor: “The enemy of my enemy is my bestfriend”.” Meanwhile, one of the fans seemed to believe that Ilia Topuria would soon join the list of McGregor’s best friends. But the condition that stood strong was that ‘La Leyenda’ would have to win against Islam Makhachev. The comment read, “Ilia soon to be best friends with Conor after sleepin Islam.” The ex-featherweight champion is chomping at the bits to get his title shot at 155 lbs and all signs point to that happening at International Fight Week in June. Will we see McGregor supporting Topuria then?
Some of the fans claimed, “Positive Connor is Soo strange to see.” While a few others pointed out that McGregor was praising Dvalishvili because of his stance against Sean O’Malley. Well, the two did step into a bit of muddy waters when McGregor helped O’Malley’s ostarine troubles get back into the highlight. The fan wrote, “Nah its a dig at o”malley you foolsits a 2 on 1.”
What are your thoughts on McGregor’s stance for the bantamweight champion? Do you think it’s because ‘The Machine’ dominated ‘The Eagle’s cousin brother? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Everyone Is Saying the Same Thing About Conor McGregor After Merab Dvalishvili Gets Unexpected Praise Before UFC 317 appeared first on EssentiallySports.
