Surging bantamweight contender, Merab Dvalishvili has claimed he will not be withdrawing from his scheduled Noche UFC title grudge match with undisputed champion, Sean O’Malley next month – despite providing footage of himself getting a nasty laceration stitched overnight.
Dvalishvili, the current number one ranked bantamweight contender, most recently featured at UFC 298 earlier this year in February, landing a unanimous decision win over former two-division champion, Henry Cejudo in the pair’s title-eliminator.
As for Montana striker, O’Malley, the bantamweight kingpin headlined UFC 299 the following month, avenging his sole promotional defeat in a unanimous decision shutout win over former opponent, Marlon Vera.
And slated to headline next month’s Las Vegas Sphere card at Noche UFC, Georgia native, Merab Dvalishvili appeared to have thrown his fight with the champion in severe jeopardy – suffering a sizeable laceration over his eyebrow, posting footage of him at a medical center getting it attended to.
Reacting to the footage, UFC CEO, Dana White ripped Dvalishvili for exposing the injury, before insisting he would not be seeking a replacement for the Tbilisi grappler.
Merab Dvalishvili plans to remain on Noche UFC card
“The whole world knows about Merab’s (Dvalishvili) cut, he posted it, “Dana White said after the Contender Series. “Our guys are so dumb, it’s never-level unbelievable. All the stuff I talk about boxing, what I will give boxing (credit), when something happens in a camp, let me tell you what, it does not leak. Our guys can’t f*cking wait to throw it up on social media. It’s a small cut. It’s not a big deal, but obviously needed to be posted.”
However, Dvalishvili warned O’Malley that he would not withdraw from Noche UFC – insisting his foe is “weak”.
“Sean O’Malley, you are in big trouble, my friend,” Merab Dvalishvili explained. “This is my third training session today. I’m here in the gym 24/7 guys. You think this little cut’s gonna stop me? I don’t understand. I guess you guys are weak and you guys are making excuses.”