It seems that 2025 is truly cursed for the UFC. The very first PPV of the year saw its main event being thrown out the window just hours before the card as Arman Tsarukyan pulled out of his lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev. Then came Dan Hooker’s broken hand and his UFC 313 co-main event against Justin Gaethje being canceled in what was expected to be a banger. Injuries, misfortune, and misery. And it seems that UFC 316 is also poised to be on the same route — a 360-degree reset. But why? Well, the bantamweight title headliner between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili seems to be in serious jeopardy.
Just hours ago, the reigning champion took to his Instagram handle to upload several photos from his training, clearly showing that ‘The Machine’ has suffered a deep cut under his right eye, which was profusely bleeding. Despite the cut, the Georgian didn’t stop the sparring as he continued his preparations, increasing the risk of further stressing his injuries. More importantly, this raises a red flag regarding his availability as a major injury right before the bout could stop him from getting cleared by the commission to fight.
Although the cut is small, it could escalate into something serious, especially with just weeks to go before the big day. However, one should remember that back in August 2024, ahead of his title fight against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306, Dvalishvili suffered a cut above his left eye during training. The injury, which occurred less than a month before the September 14 event, raised concerns that the bout might be jeopardized. At the time, ‘The Machine’ also posted photos of the injury on his Instagram timeline.
Following public backlash and even comments from Dana White branding the Georgian as an idiot, Dvalishvili came forward to explain that he was perfectly fine and ready to fight O’Malley. In addition to that, the reigning champion was nearly pulled from his first title defense at UFC 311 against Umar Nurmagomedov by the California State Athletic Commission. The champion had suffered a grisly cut on his right leg shortly before the fight, which led to 27 stitches.
“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 [my uninjured] shin.” Dvalishvili told Ariel Helwani.
He added, “He kept talking, and then one second [he] asked me to show him the other leg. I show, again, left leg. And then he [was] done and never knew about the cut.” ‘The Machine’ has been injuring himself ahead of important bouts, yet he has won them all. Could it be a lucky charm for him?
Given that, ‘The Machine’ appears to be ready, but what about the challenger? Well, Sean O’Malley has been advised to take the game as unorthodox as possible. Let’s have a look at what advice Cory Sandhagen has for the former champion.
Cory Sandhagen lays out a game plan for Sean O’Malley in his title rematch against Merab Dvalishvili
While having a conversation on the ‘MightyCast podcast’, Cory Sandhagen asserted that Sean O’Malley will have to defeat Merab Dvalishvili this time, as this might be his final chance to get back his 135-pound title. In addition to that, ‘The Sandman’ expressed that O’Malley will have to go unplanned against the champion.
“O’Malley’s real shot at winning this thing is a puncher’s chance, kind of. O’Malley’s ability to get up was really bad in their first fight with Merab. He was doing steps where….there’s better ways to stand up than the ways he was going about doing it…O’Malley’s going to get taken down a lot, and hopefully he learned how to stand up a lot better, because getting taken down is going to happen,” said Sandhagen.
He further added, “When you’re a long, lanky guy, it’s hard to stop people from getting underneath you. So it’s not so much about defending the shot as it is, can I get up immediately? And if Sean does that a lot better, he’ll do a lot better in the next fight. Sean’s not really a point guy, he’s not going to score a bunch of picks from the outside and try to win that way. O’Malley wants to put your lights out…and if he just continues to try to put Merab’s lights out, I think it’ll weigh against him. I think he really needs to control the pace of the fight.”
Cory Sandhagen believes that if O’Malley lets Dvalishvili control the fight, then it’s the end for him. ‘The Sandman’ has suggested that it’s better for someone like ‘Suga’ to keep his distance and strike. Regardless, what are your thoughts on their UFC 316 clash? Will Dvalishvili be 100% before the fight? State your opinion in the comments below.
The post Injury Update: Dana White’s UFC 316 in Jeopardy as Merab Dvalishvili Gets Nasty Cut appeared first on EssentiallySports.
