Merab Dvalishvili is at it once more.
All the time keen to overshare, the reigning bantamweight champion revealed a toe damage on social media forward of his upcoming title protection in opposition to Sean O’Malley at UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark, N.J.
Try the the state of Dvalishvili’s foot beneath, courtesy of an Instagram Story video shared by vato.gv and later re-posted by Dvalishvili.
vato.gv, Instagram
“Why you break my toe, my good friend?” Dvalishvili asks within the video. He’s talking to coaching accomplice Cameron Sandoval, a bantamweight fighter who just lately scored a win over Victor Santos at an LFA present this previous March to enhance to 4-0.
“That was you, you kicked me within the head and broke your toe, that was your fault,” Sandoval mentioned.
“I’m going to chop it off,” Dvalishvili mentioned. “This man broke it.”
It ought to be famous that neither the damage nor the following dialogue round it gave the impression to be critical. That mentioned, sharing the information was a curious determination, particularly contemplating Dvalishvili’s previous habits forward of title fights.
Dvalishvili drew the ire of UFC CEO Dana White a month forward of his first struggle with O’Malley at UFC 306 in September 2024, when he revealed he wanted to get stitches above his left eye to deal with a small reduce. White known as Dvalishvili’s determination to publicly launch the knowledge “next-level silly.”
Forward of his first title protection at UFC 311 this previous January, Dvalishvili once more handled well being points, although these weren’t revealed till after the struggle, a unanimous determination win over the beforehand undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili had two cuts on his proper leg that he confirmed off on the post-fight press convention and his coach John Wooden just lately mentioned the Dvalishvili was “half-dead for that struggle” attributable to a staph an infection and antibiotic remedy for his wounds.
The Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley rematch headlines UFC 316 on June 7. Of their first assembly at UFC 306, Dvalishvili used his wrestling to neutralize O’Malley en path to profitable a unanimous determination and claiming the bantamweight title. It was the twelfth straight win for Dvalishvili, who has not misplaced a struggle since April 2018.