Merab Dvalishvili Shares Photos of Grisly Injury Hidden from UFC 311 Medical Examiner

A fight-threatening injury had little effect on Dvalishvili when he entered the cage at UFC 311.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The training injury Merab Dvalishvili suffered ahead of UFC 311 was so severe that the Georgian felt compelled to hide it from a California State Athletic Commission official.

Dvalishvili Reveals He Fooled UFC 311 Medical Examiner

Just four months after besting Sean O’Malley to snatch the bantamweight title at UFC 306, Dvalishvili returned to the cage at UFC 311 to defend his new belt against undefeated challenger Umar Nurmagomedov.

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Competing in the night’s co-main event before Islam Makhachev’s unexpected lightweight title bout with Renato Moicano, “The Machine” lived up to his nickname and pushed a relentless pace that tired Nurmagomedov out in the latter half of the fight and allowed Dvalishvili to retain his belt via unanimous decision.

Merab Dvalishvili Shares Photos of Grisly Injury Hidden from UFC 311 Medical Examiner
Jan 18, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Merab Dvalishvili (red gloves) celebrates after winning a UFC bantamweight title fight against Umar Nurmagomedov (not pictured) during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik casually mentioned at the start of the fight that Dvalishvili had suffered a significant cut to his shin during the lead up to the event, and on the Monday after UFC 311 the bantamweight titleholder recounted a wild story from fight week.

“The cut was still open, and it was taking so long to heal up, and it finally closed now in fight week,” Dvalishvili told Ariel Helwani. “And I was worried the commission was not gonna let me fight, and I was doing everything, putting creams everyday, doing massage, and all-day therapies…California has a very strict commission, and they check everything [on] my body. And Thursday, I have pants on, and the commission guy ask me to show him [my] leg, to show the shin. And I lift my left leg pants, and show him the shin. And he [kept] talking, and the second time [he asked] me to show him [the] right, I show again [my] left leg. And then he didn’t know.”

Gruesome Photos Of Dvalishvili's Injury

“The Machine” admitted that there’s a chance his injured shin still would have passed the medical examination, but he wasn’t about to take that risk with a huge matchup against Nurmagomedov hanging in the balance.

‘Rough Night,’ Khabib Speaks Out after Umar Nurmagomedov’s First Loss at UFC 311

Merab Dvalishvili Shares Photos of Grisly Injury Hidden from UFC 311 Medical Examiner
Jan 18, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Merab Dvalishvili (red gloves) fights Umar Nurmagomedov (blue gloves) during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

“If you go back to my pictures, every time, I have something wrapped up on my leg. And I was training, and I tell you like if somebody accidently touch me, every time it was big pain. And it’s always, of course when something little injury or painful area, every time always everybody touch you there. It’s how it works, especially wrestling and jiu-jitsu.

Dvalishvili went on to say that he’d actually sustained one small cut and one significantly deeper cut on his shin while using a stair stepper during his training camp, and the grisly injury required 27 stitches to close it up.

*Swipe on Dvalishili’s Instagram post for photos of the cut, which are not for the faint of heart.

Merab Dvalishvili Sets UFC History in Title Defense Against Umar Nurmagomedov

The injury certainly did nothing to hamper Dvalishvili’s performance on fight night at UFC 311, and with one title defense now under his belt fans are eager to see which bantamweight will get the opportunity to challenge “The Machine” and test his incredible gas tank next.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.