UFC fighters are notorious for tricking the medical commission staff before fights. Take Michael Bisping, for example. The former middleweight champ had publicly stated that he lied to get past the pre-fight medical exams. He explained that he used a “stupid little code” with his trainer, Jason Parillo, to pass initial tests.
Now, what is the problem with his vision? Well, ‘The Count’ is legally blind in one eye and has a prosthetic eye. This happened after he sustained a severe eye injury during his fight against Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping in 2013. He was not the only one tricking the medical commission, though! The UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili also tricked the commission into letting him fight at UFC 311. How? Let’s hear it from his coach, John Wood.
While speaking to Submission Radio, Wood revealed that the Georgian had played a funny trick to get past the medical checkup before the fight. Heading into his UFC 311 clash against Umar Nurmagomedov, Dvalishvili suffered injuries, including back problems and a severe cut on his right shin.
Wood told the hilarious story of how he tricked the commission, saying, “Watching him in sparring and watching the way he is performing in the room gave me all the confidence to know that he could do it. It’s just a level of you know, there was a week he didn’t train because he had a rib out. There was a week he could not even put on shin pads because his leg was so jacked up, you know. It was the day before the fight, we didn’t know if the commission was gonna take a look at that leg and clear him. Luckily, he pulled the old pants trick. He showed the same leg twice, and they bought it .”
January 18, 2025, Inglewood, California, USA: MERAB DVALISHVILI 19-4-0 of Tbilisi, Georgia defeats UMAR NURMAGOMEDOV 18-1-0 of Kizilyurt, Russia by unanimous decision 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 during UFC 311 at the Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California Inglewood USA – ZUMAo117 20250118_zsp_o117_077 Copyright: xMikaelxOnax
‘The Machine’ had a severe shin injury that did not heal for months and ended up getting infected as he continued to train despite the cut. The injury did not heal before the fight, and Dvalishvili had to use a sleight of hand (with the help of some trusty pants) to hide his injury. The doctor’s distraction was a boon in disguise, and he managed to show his left leg twice so that they did not see his injury. Wood mentioned how his leg still has the scar to this day. Nevertheless, he fought despite the injury and won against Umar Nurmagomedov via decision with his forward pressure combined with takedowns.
But this was not the only time he hurt himself and tricked the commission. Before UFC 306 against Sean O’Malley, ‘The Machine’ suffered a severe cut above his left eye during training. He shared this information on social media, which drew criticism from the UFC CEO, Dana White. Despite that injury, he fought and was victorious. However this time before UFC 316, he is suffering another injury which he might not be able to hide that easily.
Merab Dvalishvili injured his toe weeks before UFC 316
It seems like Dvalishvili has an injury curse or something because before his first fight against ‘Suga,’ he suffered a cut above his right eye. He had a shin wound before his fight against Umar, and now, before UFC 316, he has a toe injury. The blame went to his sparring partner, Cameron Sandoval. You see, the Georgian star broke his pinky toe while training with Sandoval. Dvalishvili blamed the 26-year-old LFA star in the video as well. The Georgian could be heard saying, “Why did you break my toe, my friend?” But Sandoval retorted, “That was you. You kicked me in the head and broke my toe. That’s just wrong.”
The camera panned to Dvalishvili’s toe, which had turned purple—something that happens when you have a blood clot. However, the video displayed no sign of swelling or inflammation on his injured toe, which could mean that the champ’s toe was not broken. However, the Georgian was in his goofy mood that day and said in the video, as his teammates inspected the injury, “It’s okay… I’m gonna cut it off.”
Meanwhile, he updated on his injury recently and uploaded a video. Running down a steep slope, Dvalishvili spoke to his fans on social media and assured them that he was fine. He said, “Let’s go, New Jersey! I’m coming June 7th—and still! Suga, you better show up and let’s show people a good fight. No excuse from you, no excuse from me. And people, I promise you, you’re gonna have a great time, a good fight. I’m coming—I’m healthy, I’m ready, I’m hungry. Life is good.”
Are you excited to see the duo fight again? Will this injury hinder Dvalishvili’s potential? Tell us in the comments below.
The post After Merab Dvalishvili Slips Truth, Coach Opens Up on “Tricking” Commission to Save UFC 311 Fight With Umar Nurmagomedov appeared first on EssentiallySports.
