It wasn’t always evident during his performance inside the Octagon, but Merab Dvalishvili endured a fair amount of hardship en route to his first defense of the bantamweight title.
After relying on his relentless pace to pull away Umar Nurmagomedov for a unanimous decision victory in the UFC 311 headliner at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Saturday night, Dvalishvili is limiting his training. The disease was revealed. Although Nurmagomedov revealed in the opening stanza that he may have broken his hand, “The Machine” claims he has dealt with a lot of adversity of his own.
“During training camp, I broke my hip and there were days when I couldn’t get out of bed,” Dvalishvili said at the post-match press conference. “I was down, there was no training camp, I didn’t have Khabib Nurmagomedov to help me train.One day, [UFC
Performance Institute] It was closed. It was Christmas, it was New Year’s, it was a weekend, and it happened several times when Umar was there that the security guard said, “I’m sorry.” I can’t let you in. ”
“I’m not making excuses like this. You’re the king fighter and you have to find a way to win. Maybe it will, but he’s going to have to fight for so much after disrespecting me.” I don’t know, but I respect him as a fighter. God bless him, I wish him the best, but it’s a fight. What do you think? Who broke his hand?”
In an interview with Submission Radio, coach John Wood elaborated on the aforementioned injury, revealing that Dvalishvili suffered a compressed nerve in his back.
“UFC Embedded came along the other day. [UFC Countdown] – and he was training in the street and jumped up in the wrong direction and pinched his nerve,” Wood said. “[He] I couldn’t even walk for a week…It was a complicated camp. ”
That wasn’t all. Dvalishvili also suffered a cut on his leg, which eventually developed into a staph infection. Although he recovered in time for the game, it caused further concern as it interfered with his preparation.
“I got a big cut on my leg in November,” Dvalishvili said. “This just got better on Wednesday and it’s finally over. It was a big cut that took a very long time to heal and then I got an infection and every time someone touched me while I was wrestling or kicking… It was very painful. That was the challenge of this training camp.”
However, withdrawal from the event was never considered.
“After that, I fought and ended up lying in bed, feeling depressed and unable to go to the gym,” Dvalishvili said. “Umar Nurmagomedov is saying some nonsense like, “Merab is leaving.” I wouldn’t be surprised if Merab is leaving.” I’m like, “No!” I’m not going to cut corners. ‘I’ll never pull it out. ”
In the end, the Georgia grappler put on his most impressive performance to date, outscoring a favored opponent in the championship round and successfully defending his title for the first time. Dvalishvili’s win streak currently stands at 12, with 11 of those victories coming at 135 pounds, one of the most in UFC bantamweight history. With a resume that includes wins over Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley, Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan and Jose Aldo, “The Machine” has defeated some of the top talent the division has to offer. He expects nothing to change going forward.
“As always, I want to fight against the best players in this division,” Dvalishvili said. “I get excited about the next best challenge. That’s what excites me – fighting the next best challenge. I think I’ve beaten everyone in this division, so we’ll see who’s going to be the next best challenger. Let’s try it.”
O’Malley, who returned the title to Dvalishvili at UFC 306, was in attendance Saturday night and has been mentioned as a potential next challenger to the champion. If so, Dvalishvili says he’s ready.
“Sean O’Malley was complaining about something, but he has a real chance,” Dvalishvili said. “We know that if he comes at you, he can knock people out. I also see him as a challenger because he has a big chance. will make some changes this time, and this time we will fight head-on, and it will be a good fight.
“But I’m the champion now and they have to call me. If the UFC wants me back, I’m ready to come back. For now, I respect the UFC’s decision and next… Who are you going to fight?”
