Georgian Merab Dvalishvili retained his UFC bantamweight world title as he edged out Umar Nurmagomedov over five rounds on Saturday evening, with the champion declaring in the post-fight press conference that he could have had his leg amputated due to a leg infection as he showed off his scar to the media in attendance.
The reputation of the Nurmagomedovs in mixed martial arts is world-renowned, coupled with an eighteen-fight unbeaten record, and it placed the challenger as a strong favourite with the bookmakers. However, Dvalishvili was having none of it and outworked the Russian to a unanimous decision victory.
With that result, the champion also handed Nurmagomedov, cousin of UFC legend Khabib, his first professional loss. Nurmagomedov faced his own adversity during the five-round fight, breaking his hand in round one with images uploaded to social media following the defeat.
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Dvalishvili Had Multiple Injuries To Contend With.
During a post-fight breakdown of UFC 311, top MMA journalist Ariel Helwani said: “Someone close to Merab told me that regular people would have probably had their leg amputated if they had to deal with the staph infection that he had on his leg”.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, the champion responded to the news that Nurmagomedov had broken his hand in round one “I broke my back in training camp and it was some days I cannot get up from the bed, I was laid down and I don’t have a Khabib Nurmagomedov to help me to train. Some days, the P.I. [UFC Performance Institute] was closed. It was Christmas and it was new years and weekends, and it happened a couple of times, Umar was there and the security says, ‘I’m sorry. We cannot let you go in.’
He went on to add: “In November, I got big cuts on my leg. This just healed up Wednesday and closed, finally. It was big cuts, it was taking so long to heal up, and then it gets infected and then every time somebody touched me and I was doing wrestling or kicking, it was so painful. That was a challenge for this training camp. Then I had this fight and I’m laid down in my bed, I’m depressed, I cannot go to the gym. Umar Nurmagomedov was talking trash: ‘Merab will pull out. I won’t be surprised if Merab pulls out.’ I’m like: ‘No! I’m not going to pull out.’ I never pull out.”
What’s Next For The Reigning Bantamweight Champion?
It’s either a rematch with Sean O’Malley or Nurmagomedov, but I don’t think the UFC would rush Nurmagomedov back so quickly. Dvalishvili already expressed his opinion that his challenger wasn’t deserving of a title shot. So it’s extremely unlikely that the UFC will match them together instantly. Whereas O’Malley is the man that the Georgian ripped the belt from in September last year, so he will likely have the chance to win back in a rematch next.
There are other notable names in the 135lb rankings, such as Petr Yan and Corey Sandhagen; however, the UFC will likely give the opportunity to the aforementioned O’Malley, who is one of the most marketable stars throughout the entire roster.
