Merab Dvalishvili hasn’t stopped having fun ahead of the biggest fight of his career.
“The Machine” threw the mixed martial arts (MMA) world into a frenzy, or at least a collective confusion, when he shared a recent video of himself with a cut over his eye. Dvalishvili’s next fight will be for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight title when he challenges the champion, Sean O’Malley, in Noche UFC’s main event next weekend (Sat., Sept. 14, 2024).
The champion, O’Malley, was amongst those most worried about Dvalishvili possibly withdrawing from the contest but UFC CEO, Dana White, wasn’t too thrilled about the decision to share the injury publicly. White labeled his top Bantamweight contender as “next-level stupid” and questioned the choice. Despite such a reaction from his employer, Dvalishvili wasn’t bothered by it.
“I never regret what I did,” Dvalishvili told MMA Junkie. “I post this because I post everything in my social media. It wasn’t a big deal because I had more than three weeks when I got cut, and I know that my cut will take five days to heal up, and then this cut didn’t affect my training, my sparring — nothing. As you see, I’m healed up. Everything is good.
“When I saw Dana was upset, of course, I don’t want to upset Dana White and UFC or do something like that,” he continued. “But I was very calm and relaxed because it wasn’t a big deal. I don’t regret nothing. This is who I am, this is what I do, and this is my life. That’s why I’m a fighter, and this is my life and what I do.”
A win for Dvalishvili would extend his current record Bantamweight winning streak to 11, adding him to the list of reigning European champions.