It’s personal! A UFC main event with political overtones. We all know what Russia is doing in Ukraine and what it did in Georgia, says Dvalishvili

The UFC has another tournament coming up, this time unnumbered, but with an extremely attractive main event. This one also has political overtones and it shows. Merab Dvalishvili did not spare his opponent in his comments to the media. But Peter Yan is not worried about it.

The UFC’s bantamweight division is packed, there’s no shortage of quality. The champion is Aljamain Sterling, who will probably face a big challenge in the form of former king Henry Cejudo. But there are others who want to fight for the title. Sean O’Malley, Peter Yan and Merab Dvalishvili.

The last two names will face each other at the next UFC event, on Saturday night to Sunday, when they will grace the unnumbered event in Las Vegas and cater the main event. The latter, however, will most certainly have political overtones. In fact, it already has.

Georgian fighter Dvalishvili, in particular, has made no secret of it, admitting outright that the fight with the skilled Russian is personal for him.

“It’s not just a fight. He’s from Russia, I’m from Georgia. We all know what Russia does with Ukraine and what it did with Georgia. Russia is not a democratic country. I want to win for my people, I have a lot of support from my people, but also from Ukraine,” Yahoo Sports quoted Dvalishvili as saying.

The Georgian admittedly respects Yano as a great fighter. After all, he is a former champion who has no major weaknesses. He sees him as his toughest opponent yet. He just doesn’t like the Russian’s character.

“He’s not humble, he’s not a good person. It doesn’t matter if you’re a good fighter. You have to be a good person. He’s a cheat,” says Dvalishvili, who criticized, among other things, that Yan did nothing for charity when he was champion.

And what does the Russian have to say? They say Dvalishvili can’t draw attention to himself in any other way and speaks especially when the cameras are in front of him. But when the cameras are gone, he says nothing.

So we have a lot to look forward to. Both fighters are among the best the UFC has to offer. And with the political overtones, the tension and atmosphere will understandably rise.

Dvalishvili, by the way, is a friend of Octagon champion Mate Sanikidze. He was recently arrested for protesting against a pro-Russian law. But he is now free on bail.

Source: UFC, Yahoo Sports