divas business

How they came to be..

It all started when Merab first saw Umar during his debut fight. He had seen it through the screen of his TV, and when his eyes fell on the young Nurmagomedov, his heart skipped a few beats. He didn't know why and he spent a few days trying to figure out through his confusion and sudden attraction to a fighter, a man no less. He brushed it off as nothing at first, but each time he saw the young and upcoming fighter, slowly rising up the Bantamweight ranks over the years and soon becoming the top contender to go against him, his heart seemed to leap and dance in utter bliss, adrenaline and excitement. It was then he realized that he had fallen in love with the younger man.

He'd get distracted during training at the thought of the man. What charms Merab so much about him is his soft face and kind personality—he's adorable, he's soft, he's so nice— and Merab can only imagine Umar as something fragile that he'd have to take care of. (He does remind himself that Umar is a professional fighter like himself.)

What about Umar? He was in love ever since he debuted, hell, even before that. He might've even bought a bit of his merch and memorabilia in secret and hid it from his team (especially Khabib). His nerves would tense and his limbs would stiffen at the thought of fighting Merab, or even meeting him as a fighter and not a fan and his face would become hot and red. He'd accidentally think about Merab during training and he'd have to blame it on the training if any of his teammates notice. “Мне просто жарко от тренировок, вот и все.” (I'm just hot from training, that's all.)

Accidentally got "too excited" once he actually met Merab face to face once they agreed to fight eachother. (Merab noticed. He also got "too excited." by the realization and thought of it after.)

The confession came soon after their fight. Merab was pumped, still full of adrenaline and celebrating with his team, but when he turned around and his gaze fell on the dejected Nurmagomedov, his heart felt like it fell from 10 stories and shattered into a million atom sized pieces.

When he heard that Umar's hand had broke in the middle of the fight and didn't tell anyone about it and kept fighting through it, Merab's heart broke even further. He understood that Umar didn't have as much stamina and endurance as him and it might've contributed to his loss, but the fact that Umar had fought with a broken hand made Merab think that the fight was a bit unfair and he needed to talk to Umar about it. “What? His hand was broken? No, not fair! Too easy for me! Not fair..”

He managed to slip away from his team and find Umar, tugging him away to another area of the building before he makes Umar show him his broken hand. He gently held Umar's injured hand, careful not to put pressure on it as he observed it with a delicate, gentle and remorseful gaze. “No.. Why didn't you tell them? We could've done this fight another time.."

Seeing Merab's reverent gaze and the way his touch sent shivers down his spine managed to break the dam that acted as Umar's hesitance to confess. He swallowed down his nervousness before he spoke quietly. “ჲბთფამ რვ, მვპაბ. და მე ყოველთვის მქონდა ... გთხოვთ მიმიღოთ." (I love you, Merab. And I always have. Please accept me..)

Umar had learnt simple Georgian in the past few months, in order to impress the other fighter when he confessed. And it worked. A little too well.

Merab stared at him, dumbfounded. The person he had been crushing on for 4 years had just confessed to him in his mother tongue. (And he had to note, that his Georgian was really good, even if it was simple.) Merab gently cupped his other hand over Umar's broken one and raised it to his lips, planting a kiss before speaking in a soft and genuine tone. "Yes.."

.. And then picking up Umar and twirling him around. “Yes, yes, yes!! I will accept you, my friend! My boy friend! My Umar!!" (They were lucky that he confessed in a secluded spot.)

2. Love Language + freaky hcs

Merab absolutely loves praising and motivating Umar. Umar acts as a sort of energy giver to him and he usually gives it back through excessive motivation (yelling at him adoringly during training and during fights) or praise. (telling him he's happy with his result/energy/focus etc during training and after fights)

Umar is a sucker for Merab's praises, and will usually praise him double than what Merab has said for him.. Body worship, seductive phrases in Georgian and being overly affectionate. He'd get into Merab's lap if he feels like Merab had praised him well that day and felt like he needed him to thank him for it..

Merab goes feral for Umar's dirty talk. Since the Dagestani is so nice, he rarely ever hears him curse—much less hear him talk filthy in his ear. But every time they have some fun and Merab hits that spot in Umar and he mewls something dirty out in Georgian, Merab will make sure he is not capable of going to train for the next week. “You know if you say those thing,. you make me go crazy.. You know right?”

Umar enjoys cooking for/with Merab, and Merab enjoys the activity as much as he does. They both find the activity relaxing and it deepens their bond even more. They also enjoy baking together (thought Umar also enjoys surprising Merab with making him food (breakfast, lunch, dinner etc)

Merab loves doing aftercare for Umar. He asks him constantly if he was being too hard on him or if he was too much and brings him to the bathroom to have a relaxing warm bath with him and clean him up before going back to the bedroom to cuddle him until they fall asleep.

Umar is silently possessive. He'd love leaving hickeys, marks from his nails and soft bruises just to tell Merab to wear clothes that would hide them but would expose them if Merab moved the wrong way. He'd smirk to himself each time he hears someone from the team tease Merab by saying "Wow, did a girl do that to you?" when they see the marks.

Umar would love disciplining Merab whenever the Georgian gets too cocky during training. If the man had beat him a number of times in a row during sparring and started to take it less seriously, all Umar had to do was shoot him a certain look to shut Merab up and have him needing for what was about to come when they got home.

3. Miscellaneous (how their team found out and reacted.

Merab's Team found out when Merab pulled Umar into their gym and loudly announced their relationship while carrying Umar. Umar hid his face in Merab's neck the entire time.