The Beef Is Over: Merab Wants Mat Time at Khabib's Gym
Event: UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev — October 24, 2026, Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi
Image credit: UFC.com
Fight week in Abu Dhabi keeps getting stranger. First a horse bit Merab Dvalishvili. Now Merab is on the phone trying to get mat time at Khabib Nurmagomedov's gym — the same camp tied to Umar Nurmagomedov, the man he has spent years beefing with.
This is from Episode 3 of the UFC's Embedded series, and it might be the most surprising minute of the entire week. [2]
The phone call
Merab rings Aljamain Sterling, his old friend and former teammate, with a plan. "I met Nina (Drama) in airport," he tells him. "She gave me a connection with Khabib's gym. We can go train there. I would like to go there." [1]
Sterling does what any good friend would do. He pushes back: "Are you sure? Because of you and Umar."
Merab doesn't hesitate. "I'm good with Umar now. I don't have any (issue)." [1]
Why this is actually a big deal
If you have followed this sport for more than a year, you know this beef was real. At the height of it, Umar said outright that he would rather beat Dvalishvili than win the title. Then this past summer, Merab slapped one of Umar's friends at a Real American Freestyle press conference in Georgia. [1]
So a title challenger calling up his old rival's camp to ask for training time is not small talk. It is a genuine burying of the hatchet — days before he walks out to challenge for the bantamweight belt.
Meanwhile, Yan is doing the same thing
Here is the part nobody saw coming. Petr Yan — the champion Merab is trying to dethrone on Saturday — is reportedly doing the same thing. EssentiallySports reported on October 19 that Yan has been isolating at a Khabib-camp training base in Abu Dhabi, despite the well-known past friction between Yan and Khabib's camp. [3]
So both halves of Saturday's co-main could end up training under the same roof as the Nurmagomedov crew this week. Fight week, man.
Where the numbers land
Dvalishvili is 21-5 in MMA, 14-3 inside the octagon. Yan is 20-5, and their series sits at 1-1 — the third fight settles it. [1] The full card is on the UFC 333 event page, and if you missed the horse bite and the rest of this week's chaos, it is all in our UFC 333 fight week buzz roundup.
Saturday settles the trilogy. This week settled the beef.
Sources
1. BloodyElbow — Merab Dvalishvili buries Umar Nurmagomedov beef, asks Aljamain Sterling about training at Khabib's gym (October 21, 2026); also covered by Yardbarker
2. UFC (YouTube) — UFC 333: Embedded | Episode 3 — video description confirms "Merab goes to Khabib Nurmagomedov's gym"
3. EssentiallySports — Petr Yan isolating at Khabib-camp training base in Abu Dhabi (October 19, 2026)
Fight data compiled from public statistical sources (ufcstats.com) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). OctagonStats is an independent database, not affiliated with UFC / TKO Group.