Dana White blasts Merab Dvalishvili for posting training cut on social media: "Our guys are so dumb, it's next level unbelievable"
Dana White recently expressed his annoyance with Merab Dvalishvili for posting a video of his training-related injury on social media. White said that Dvalishvili made a foolish decision by revealing his training cut just a few weeks before his bantamweight title matchup with Sean O'Malley.
For context, ahead of his UFC 306 title fight against O'Malley, Dvalishvili took to social media and uploaded a clip of himself getting treatment for a cut above his left eye. That infuriated the reigning champion, who warned the Georgian fighter not to withdraw from their fight, writing:
''This little f**kin rat better not pull out I swear to god.''
Dvalishvili responded to O'Malley's warning by assuring him that he would not pull out of their fight:
''Calm down, it's all good, just a training injury. Never pulled out of a fight and never will! I'm coming for you O'Malley. Stronger than ever, Vamos!''
However, that didn't sit well with White, who bashed Dvalishvili for posting the clip of his cut. The UFC CEO voiced his disappointment with the bantamweight title challenger during a recent post-fight press conference for 'Dana White Contender Series 68', saying:
''The whole world knows about Merab’s cut. He posted it. Our guys are so dumb, it’s next-level unbelievable. All the stuff I talk about boxing, what I will give boxing, is when something happens in a camp, man, let me tell you what. It does not leak. Our guys can’t fuc*ing wait to throw it up on social media. It’s a small cut. It’s no big deal. But obviously, it needed to be posted.''
Check out Dana White's comments below:
Given his injury, many are skeptical that Dvalishvili's upcoming title fight against O'Malley would proceed as expected. However, 'The Machine's' manager Oren Hodak confirmed to MMA Junkie that the injury won't impact the title fight.
Sean O'Malley intends to move up a division after Merab Dvalishvili's fight
Merab Dvalishvili is set to challenge Sean O'Malley for the bantamweight title at UFC 306 on Sep. 14 at the Las Vegas Sphere.
O'Malley appeared confident ahead of his fight against Dvalishvili and already laid out his next step. The reigning champion hinted at moving up to the featherweight division and potentially facing the winner of the Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway fight at UFC 308.
In a recent appearance on the DeepCut podcast, O'Malley said:
“I beat Merab, knock him out viciously, boom, land a couple extra shots before the ref could get in. And then Ilia-Max fight and fight the winner of whoever wins that. If Max wins, he’s the winner of the 45-pound belt and the BMF. If Ilia wins, he’s the 45 [champ] and the BMF. So moving up would be a massive, massive fight for the company, the UFC."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (37:32):