Bantamweight No.1 contender Merab Dvalishvili is set to headline UFC 306, aka ‘Riyadh Season: Noche UFC’ at The Sphere in Las Vegas on September 14th opposite current champion Sean O’Malley, so alarm bells started ringing yesterday when he posted multiple videos of a cut on his left eyebrow that he suffered in training.
That led to fears that the fight may be cancelled, though Dvalishvili seemed unfazed and assured everyone he’ll be ready to fight.
“Calm down – its all good- just a little training injury,” Dvalishvili said on Instagram. “Never pulled out of a fight – and Never will! I’m coming for you O’Malley – stronger than ever Vamos!”
Dana White was far from calm when he responded to the situation last night after the conclusion of the latest episode of the Contender Series though, fearing that sharing information like that could put the fight in jeopardy.
“The whole world knows about Merab’s cut,” White said. “He posted it. Our guys are so dumb, it’s next-level unbelievable. All the stuff I talk about boxing, what I will give boxing, is when something happens in a camp, man, 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 no big deal. But obviously, it needed to be posted.
“… Why the f*ck would you want him to know that? It is next-level stupid. Some of these guys are so stupid it’s mind-boggling. It’s unbelievable.”
Dana White goes OFF on Merab Dvalishvili for posting his cut.
"Our guys are so dumb, it's next-level unbelievable. … It is next-level stupid." pic.twitter.com/Q4R20hsbsf
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) August 21, 2024
White has already stated that due to the visual spectacle that they have planned for the event at the unique Sphere venue to celebrate Mexican Independence Day that this will be the most expensive production ever in the history of the promotion, and so there’s a lot of pressure on his shoulders right now to deliver something special to live up to the hype.
Given that there’s already been some criticism about the quality of the 10-fight card and Mexican boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez also set to fight in Las Vegas that night, the last thing the UFC needs right now is their main event to be at any risk of being cancelled.
Meanwhile, Sean O’Malley was blunt in his reaction to the news.
“This little f*ckin rat better not pull out I swear to god,” O’Malley wrote on X.
Dvalishvili has since posted another video insisting that everything is fine and that he’s already back in training for his long awaited bantamweight title opportunity.
Nothing changes. September 14 I’m coming for the belt ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/yahiCci7sR
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) August 21, 2024
