Merab Dvalishvili guarantees he’s nonetheless combating Sean O’Malley at UFC 316 and a toe harm isn’t going to throw him off his sport.
The reigning UFC bantamweight champion lately put up a video displaying the pinky toe on his proper foot was swollen after a coaching session the place he jokingly blamed a teammate for the harm saying, “Why you break my toe?” Whereas Dvalishvili added in the identical video that he would simply reduce off the toe if obligatory, he stated Thursday he was stunned the put up acquired a lot consideration.
“I used to be stunned at how a lot response there was from individuals reacting,” Dvalishvili instructed reporters throughout a media scrum at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas. “All people was like [freaking out]. Guys, it’s nothing. Actually, it’s nothing.”
The trigger for concern seemingly comes from a considerably comparable state of affairs that unfolded previous to Dvalishvili’s title struggle win over O’Malley of their first encounter this previous September.
Simply weeks out from UFC 306, Dvalishvili confirmed off a photograph that includes a gnarly reduce that he suffered in coaching, which led to UFC CEO Dana White calling him “next-level silly” for posting it on social media. Whereas the reduce didn’t endanger the struggle in any manner, White nonetheless blasted Dvalishvili for making the information public within the first place.
This time round, White hasn’t weighed in on Dvalishvili’s choice to disclose his toe harm main into the second struggle in opposition to O’Malley, nevertheless it’s protected to imagine his response could be comparable.
Dvalishvili took a second to indicate off his foot to show his toe already regarded higher and that he by no means anticipated the harm to really have an effect on his efficiency.
“As you guys see, no extra black and blue, nonetheless a little bit fats nevertheless it’s good,” Dvalishvili stated. “As you see, I’m strolling. It’s a little bit pinky toe, it gained’t be any drawback. … like I stated, I’ve 9 different toes. I’m good.”
Clearly, Dvalishvili isn’t involved in regards to the toe harm and it seems he’s greater than able to defend his title for a second time after vanquishing Umar Nurmagomedov again in January.
Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley 2 headlines UFC 316 from the Prudential Middle in Newark, N.J., on June 7 with ladies’s bantamweight champion Julianna Peña defending her belt in opposition to Kayla Harrison within the co-main occasion.
