Merab Dvalishvili reveals injury that made training difficult for UFC 311

Merab Dvalishvili has several reasons why he wanted to delay his first title defense until March, but a nagging injury tops the list.

After defeating Sean O’Malley to become UFC champion last September, this Georgian bantamweight fighter immediately turned his attention to 2025, with the goal of facing Umar Nurmagomedov. Unfortunately, the latter wanted to fight earlier, as he prepares to observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which runs from February 28 to March 29, during which he must fast from sunrise to sunset.

Finally, Dvalishvili agreed to face Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 this Saturday, even though he is aware that it is not under ideal conditions.

“I wanted to take advantage of it and I was in Vegas because [Aljamain Sterling] was fighting Movsar Evloev and I was training while dealing with several injuries,” he revealed during the UFC 311 media day on Wednesday.

“But once I heard the UFC needed me, I came forward and Dana [White] agreed. I went to the office and said OK, I’ll take this fight. I am a company man. Let’s do it. »

Dvalishvili would not reveal the nature of the injury that bothered him, but he promised to provide details after his fight on Saturday.

Although he assures that his injury will not affect his performance, Dvalishvili admits to having encountered difficulties during his training camp in preparing to face Nurmagomedov.

“It wasn’t the fight. It was affecting my training,” Dvalishvili said. “I will post the details after the fight, but training was difficult because of this injury. But I’m fine, I’m ready now. Everything is fine. »

Regarding the fight, Dvalishvili is eager to turn the page on Nurmagomedov after a preparation marked by an unexpected and intense rivalry.

Time and time again, Dvalishvili has said he doesn’t believe Nurmagomedov deserves this title shot after just one win over a fighter ranked in the top 10 in the world, not to mention a 6-0 record in the UFC.

For his part, Dvalishvili had to go on a 10-game unbeaten streak, including victories over three former UFC champions, before being offered the same opportunity.

Furthermore, Dvalishvili believes that Nurmagomedov was not sincere in his presentation ahead of the fight, which explains why he denounces the lack of respect shown to him by the 29-year-old Dagestani.

“Every time I see him, I show him my respect,” Dvalishvili said. “I was friends with him. I know him as a person. It’s not social networks, it’s not a video game in which people talk randomly. We are real people. Being disrespected by Umar drove me crazy and when I met him in person I asked him ‘why don’t you respect me on Twitter?’ [Il a répondu] ‘because I wanted to, what are you going to do?’ Then you saw, 30 minutes later, he said ‘I never disrespected you, I never disrespected your country.’

“That’s why I was so angry. That’s why I wanted to beat this guy because I’m a real person. I’m not going to ignore this. »

Although he was upset with Nurmagomedov before the fight, Dvalishvili insists that he does not harbor bitter hatred towards his opponent and that he does not need that as motivation to win.

Dvalishvili does not back down from his criticism of Nurmagomedov, but he is not overcome by animosity to prepare for this face-to-face.

“I don’t need to hate anyone,” Dvalishvili said. “You know I was kissing Sean O’Malley. I had so much fun in the cage. I was smiling. I don’t need to hate anyone. I don’t hate anyone. »

“But there are things Umar did to disrespect me. He called me a fake champion. I’m not a fake champion. He brought up a derogatory expression that he said was a Georgian expression, when it is not. He mentioned my country and he still continues to disrespect me. This is not correct. »