Merab Dvalishvili’s coach has downplayed the seriousness of the UFC bantamweight champion’s toe injury.
Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) is preparing to face the man he took the title from last year, Sean O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC), in the main event at UFC 316 on June 7. The champion recently shared a video on his Instagram showing a badly bruised and swollen pinky toe, sparking speculation that “The Machine” might withdraw from the fight.
However, Dvalishvili’s head coach, John Wood, dismissed those rumors during an interview with Submission Radio.
"He loves to rile everybody up," Wood said. "The thing is, as much as people think, 'Oh, that's stupid' or this or that, he would never post something that was going to take him out of a fight. So guys, if he's posting something, it's really not that bad, and it's not going to bother him that bad.
"I'm sure he broke his toe, but you don't understand. Every camp and every fighter, even O'Malley says it: Everybody is banged up. There's a level of injuries you go into fights with. That's the way it is. That's the way it's going to be, and that's the way it always is. It's just one of those things that obviously, Merab likes to post about a little more than everybody else. It's all right, though. He's all good."
Before defeating O’Malley at UFC 306 last September, Dvalishvili posted a video showing a deep cut he suffered in training that required several stitches. UFC President Dana White criticized him at the time, calling him “next-level stupid” for sharing the footage.
"That's nothing compared to some of the things we've had going into a lot of the fights," Wood said. "You've heard a lot about how he was banged up for Umar (Nurmagomedov), but there's a lot of things he doesn't talk about. He's had some massive injuries going into some massive fights before and been banged up. Broken ribs and backs, and things that are just completely out of whack, but that's just the way it goes. He's going to show up and do his job no matter what."
Dvalishvili appeared this week on the Believe You Me podcast with UFC commentators Michael Bisping and Paul Felder. When Felder brought up that Conor McGregor had withdrawn from his UFC 303 bout against Michael Chandler last year due to a pinky toe injury, the bantamweight champion responded with a tongue-in-cheek comment.
“I mean, I don't want to comment about Conor McGregor's toe because I don't know exactly the pain and the situation”, Dvalishvili replied, “but my toe? I still have nine other toes!”
