Coach breaks silence on Merab Dvalishvili's concerning toe injury ahead of UFC 316
A few days back, Merab Dvalishvili shared some concerning images of a toe injury. In response to the speculation surrounding the condition, Dvalishvili's coach, John Wood, recently clarified the situation.
'The Machine' is currently preparing to face Sean O'Malley at the main event of UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark, New Jersey. After winning the UFC bantamweight title from O'Malley last year, the two fighters are set for a grudge match.
Despite concerns about the severity of Dvalishvili's injury, Coach Wood confirmed that there is no major issue. In a recent interview with Submission Radio, he explained:
"It's one of those things, man. I just can't win with that guy. I literally leave for a day, and something goes on. But he loves to rattle everybody up. The thing is like, 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 like, guys, if he's posting something, it's really not that bad... It's not going to bother him that bad."
He added:
"I'm sure he broke his toe, but like you don't understand every camp and every fighter... everybody's banged up, everybody there's a level of just injuries that you just go into fights with. That's the way it is... So, it's just one of those things that Merab likes to post about a little more than everybody else."
Check out John Wood's comments on Merab Dvalishvili's toe injury below (0:48):
Merab Dvalishvili details his post UFC 316 fight plans
After winning the UFC bantamweight championship at UFC 306, Merab Dvalishvili defended his title against Umar Nurmagomedov a few months later, amidst a lot of drama at UFC 311. Now, four months after that fight, he is scheduled for his second title defense at UFC 316.
In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, 'The Machine' shared his plans for after the UFC 316 fight. Expressing his desire to stay active and compete three more times, Dvalishvili said:
"I don’t look at this one like an easy fight. It’s going to be a challenge, but after that, I want to be busy. I’m just going to take only one month off, and I will be back to training camp. I heard they will have a fight in Guadalajara, Mexico. I would like to fight there, and I would like to fight in New York or December, Vegas. Let’s see if we get this one and two more this year."
Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below (via @Home_of_Fight on X):