“I don’t think a broken hand affects your cardio from the last I checked. Your hand and your lungs aren’t connected.” That’s what John Wood had to say when he learned that Umar Nurmagomedov blamed his broken hand for losing against Merab Dvalishvili. Of course, such injuries did prevent movements and limited his strikes. But ‘Young Eagle’ wasn’t the only injured fighter at UFC 311. ‘The Machine’ was also suffering from multiple health issues. 

It’s hard to believe that the bantamweight champion was battling health issues as he fought Nurmagomedov, right? He didn’t just defeat the Dagestani prospect but also ensured that he utterly humiliated him. Dvalishvili showed a kind of dominance that proved that he can stand up straight against Dagestani wrestling. But what exactly happened to ‘The Machine’? Well, he was on a multi-antibiotic therapy to heal a staphylococcus infection and to prevent infection in an open wound. Needless to say, Dvalishvili must have felt a loss of appetite and weakness during the fight as side effects from the medication.

Recently, the Georgian champion’s coach had a brief conversation with MMA Fighting. Therein, he reflected back on Dvalishvili’s UFC 311 troubles. He said, “I think that Umar was going to be the toughest fight for Merab at the time. I think we’ll end up fighting him again some time and same thing, we beat them. They asked for the fight and [they came out] ‘Oh I’m injured, I’m this, I’m that.’ Well, Merab was half-dead for that fight. You don’t understand, he had an open wound, he had a staph infection, he was on all kinds of antibiotics. I personally, if it was up to me honestly, and I haven’t really told anybody, I probably would have pulled him out of the fight. I honestly would have.” So why didn’t Wood pull Dvalishvili out of the bout?

That’s because the champion showed him that he could compete. Even though he could barely walk with an injury and an infection, he went on to spar successfully for 10 rounds. That’s how Wood knew that Dvalishvili had the ability to pull it off. But Nurmagomedov worrying about his injury was what the coach didn’t like. He said, “The fact that Umar’s like ‘Oh, I’ve got a busted hand.’ You guys asked for the fight. We wanted to fight later on. We said we’d fight you. You wanted to take time off for Ramadan. So they pushed for it and took the fight. Then it’s ‘oh we’ve got this [injury], we’ve got that.’ Whatever, it’s the same thing. Everybody is always going to have those excuses.”

Wood later pointed out that Dvalishvili would never blame his defeat on anything. He doesn’t like excuses. And that’s what separates ‘The Machine’ from everyone else. He doesn’t just bring in skills that help him dominate the Octagon, but he also brings in an enthusiasm and a love for the sport that attracts him towards greatness in the fighting realm. 

But all this pushes the fighting community to wonder about one thing: How come the UFC officials didn’t notice Dvalishvili’s injury? It was all because the Georgian was a bit too smart in hiding it. Wanna know how he did it?

Merab Dvalishvili did everything to hide his injuries before fighting Umar Nurmagomedov

During his appearance on Ariel Helwani’s talk show following his UFC 311 win, Merab Dvalishvili revealed that he was once worried that the CSAC wouldn’t let him fight Nurmagomedov due to his injury. ‘The Machine’ had an open wound on his right leg, which apparently got infected and refused to close back up in time. 

The bantamweight champion got the nasty cut right after he won the belt against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306. According to sources, he slipped and fell on a staircase. The cut needed 27 stitches to close up. But a subsequent infection was the one thing that put Dvalishvili in danger, for it heightened the risk of septic shock. With a history of staph infection, things were ever more troublesome.

Dvalishvili told Helwani, “I was worried the commission was not going to let me fight. And I was doing everything, putting creams [on the injury] every day, doing massage and all the therapies. California has a very strict commission, and they check everything on my body. Thursday, I have pants on, and the commission guy asked me to show him my leg. To show to the shin. And I lift my left leg pants, and show him shin.” However, the official simply kept on talking and never found out the state of Dvalishvili’s right leg. Of course, the cut would later cause severe fever, followed by pangs of weakness and nausea. Dvalishvili continued, “Maybe I can pass but I was worried because it looks like it was fresh, but it’s been a long time cut.”

Nevertheless, Merab Dvalishvili secured a victory and soon became a champion that the fighting community rallied behind. Now, he’s all set for a rematch against ‘Suga’ to defend his belt for the 2nd time. And no matter the outcome, Dvalishvili would never blame it on his injuries or situations. What are your thoughts on Dvalishvili’s troubles before UFC 311? Do you think he’ll remain the champion after the O’Malley rematch?