Sean Strickland reacts to Nina-Marie Daniele's appreciation post for Merab Dvalishvili post UFC 311 title defense

Bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili defended his strap successfully against top contender Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event at UFC 311. With that, the Armenian fighter becomes the first fighter to beat Nurmagomedov. MMA interviewer Nina-Marie Daniele praised Dvalishvili in an Instagram post, which sparked a reaction from Sean Strickland.

'The Machine's' cardio proved effective against the challenger as he demonstrated to fight fans and commentators why he is the king of the division. He maintained the same pace throughout the five rounds and defeated the Dagestani via unanimous decision.

Daniele, who was seen learning self-defense from Dvalishvili ahead of the pay-per-view, was also present at the Intuit Dome. After the 34-year-old secured a victory, she gave him a shoutout post on Instagram and wrote:

"From the moment I met you I never doubted you for a second! Congratulations Merab Dvalishvili - See you in Georgia @merab.dvalishvili ❤️🦁🇬🇪"

Check out the original post below:

Meanwhile, Strickland also commented on her post and replied with:

"🙌👏🙌👏"

Sean Strickland's comment [courtesy of @ninamariedaniele's post on Instagram]

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Merab Dvalishvili delivers an inspiring post-fight speech after defeating Umar Nurmagomedov

Merab Dvalishvili entered UFC 311 as an underdog, despite being the champion. He proved the oddsmakers wrong with his pace and no visible rounds of fatigue for five rounds.

In the post-fight octagon interview with Joe Rogan, Dvalishvili revealed that he was still recovering from the injury, when he accepted the fight on six weeks notice. He said:

"Thank you everyone who came here to support me, especially all the Georgians... I am The Machine but when I take this fight, it was on six weeks' notice, and I was injured..Yes, I'm old, but I'm working every day. I'm a hard worker."

'The Machine' also urged the fans to never underestimate themselves:

"Please don't let anyone bully you, underestimate you. Believe yourself and everything is possible... I'm so proud of myself."

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below (1:17):