“Stupid” was the word Dana White used after #1 bantamweight contender, Merab Dvalishvili posted a clip of his gnarly cut on social media. While the promotional head was annoyed with the Georgian’s antics, he posted another short clip of him removing stitches all by himself with a scissor! In fact, many deemed this as an infra dig against White for his comments but Merab has clarified his stance on the matter.
Speaking to Andreas Hale of ESPN, ‘The Machine’ re-iterated his intentions, essentially saying that it was not meant as defiance or to annoy the boss man.
“Of course, I don’t mess up with Dana White, man. Who wants to mess up with Dana White? I don’t want to mess up with Dana White. I always cut stitches out by myself and it’s not first… It’s normal for me.”
Earlier, Merab had suffered a cut amidst training and posted it online annoying the organization’s President/CEO.
White had remarked that it was not a wise decision from the Georgian to reveal the injury before his title fight against Sean O’Malley.
‘Suga’ then warned the Georgian not to pull out at the last minute while White seemed infuriated. Merab then doubled down, posting another clip of him treating himself with a garden scissor. Now the 33-year-old has cleared the air that it was not defiance but just him being himself for his fans.
In the meantime, O’Malley dropped a bold prediction for his fight against the Georgian machine.
O’Malley vows to knockout “Moreb”
For the first time in its history, the UFC octagon will be erected at the Sphere commemorating the Mexican Independence Day on September 14. In fact, the hype is through the roof for this one after Uncle Dana goaded the event to be the “greatest live sporting event in history“.
And at the helm of it is 135-lb champion, O’Malley who looks to defend his title against Merab in a classic striker vs wrestler duel. While on paper, Merab does have the tools to down the champion, making use of his pressure style wrestling, O’Malley recently took to social media to issue a cold seven-word prediction.
Posting a thread on his IG, ‘Suga’ wrote –
“14 days til Moreb gets knocked out.”
In fact, the champ was warning the challenger that his time was running out, and on September 14, he will get a taste of his right hand. If you were a betting man, who would you put your money on? Can Merab claim the title or will the American do what he does best?