Merab Dvalishvili recently assured Sean O'Malley that he would not drop out of their upcoming title fight at UFC 306. This happened shortly after O'Malley chastised Dvalishvili for suffering an injury a few weeks before their fight.
UFC 306, also dubbed Riyadh Season Noche UFC is scheduled for Sept. 14. The main event of the promotion's debut at the Las Vegas Sphere will be O'Malley's second title defense against Dvalishvili.
Unfortunately, Dvalishvili's cut during training may put O'Malley's title defense at risk. The Georgian fighter recently took to social media and shared a clip of himself receiving medical attention for a cut on his left eye. The reigning champion took offense at that and cautioned Dvalishvili not to back out of their fight, writing:
''This little f**kin rat better not pull out I swear to god.''
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In response to O'Malley's warning, Dvalishvili stated that he would not back out of their fight, writing:
''Calm down, it's all good, just a training injury. Never pulled out of a fight and never will! I'm coming for you O'Malley. Stronger than ever, Vamos!''
Aside from his training injury, Dvalishvili was in the news after a video leaked online showing him going over a barrier to confront a fan who heckled him.
The incident happened at the CJI tournament in Las Vegas this past Saturday. According to reports, the fan was making fun of Dvalishvili by making remarks about his upcoming fight with O'Malley. The bantamweight title challenger, unable to control his rage, jumped over the barricade to confront the fan.
This sparked a reaction from O'Malley, who blasted Dvalishvili for his actions on his YouTube channel, saying:
''Merab looks and just can't handle it...You can be sued for assaulting a civilian. You're not allowed to assault somebody.''
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below:
Dana White bashes Merab Dvalishvili for revealing his injury prior to UFC 306
UFC CEO Dana White recently expressed his anger at Merab Dvalishvili for disclosing his injury sustained during training in front of the entire world, just a few weeks before UFC 306.
Many are unsure if Dvalishvili's scheduled title matchup with Sean O'Malley will go as planned in light of his injury.
When questioned about Dvalishvili's social media post, White responded angrily during a recent post-fight news conference for 'DWCS', saying:
''The whole world knows about Merab’s cut, he posted it. Our guys are so dumb, it’s next-level unbelievable. All the stuff that I talk about boxing, what I will give boxing, is when something happens in the camp, man, let me tell you what, it does not leak. And our guys can’t f***ing wait to put it up on social media…'' [H/t: Bj Penn]