“I only fear God and Marc Goddard” - Merab Dvalishvili hesitant to be officiated under UFC referee Marc Goddard’s watch after 2 controversial calls
Merab Dvalishvili sounded off on UFC referee Marc Goddard and noted that he would be hesitant to compete if he's officiating the fight.
During his appearance on the recent episode of The MMA Hour, 'The Machine' shared his thoughts on that UFC referee and explained why he would have an issue with him officiating his fights. He mentioned that he wouldn't refuse to fight, but would be uncomfortable with Goddard serving as the referee.
He said:
"Every time I see him, I don't know, I only scared of God and every time I see him I don't know...Yes, they know who I am. You know, if he would be my referee, I'm gonna go and fight but I have a feeling. I'm uncomfortable when I see him. I don't feel comfortable somehow that's my feeling."
Merab Dvalishvili believes that the UFC 292 main event between Sean O'Malley and Aljamain Sterling was stopped too soon. He took to social media a few days following the event and let his feelings about Marc Goddard's officiating be known. 'The Machine' mentioned that the UFC referee doesn't allow the fighters to leave it all in the cage, saying:
"I have "markgoddardphobia" not only because of what happen last Saturday. He was cageside ref when I fought Ricky Simon in 2018...He [Mark Goddard] pushed everyone to say I lost consciousness in the middle of the choke but I was never out. We work so hard...Let us fight til we can't fight anymore."
It will be interesting to see whether Marc Goddard will be assigned any of Merab Dvalishvili's fights going forward, especially after the bantamweight contender made his feelings public.
Check out the full video:
Merab Dvalishvili details what it would take for him to agree to fight Aljamain Sterling
Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling have both stated that they have no intention of fighting each other, but that doesn't necessarily mean it wouldn't happen.
While speaking to Ariel Helwani on today's episode of The MMA Hour, 'The Machine' detailed what it would take for him to agree to a bout against his friend and teammate. He mentioned that the UFC has never offered him that fight, but they would only agree if it is lucrative for both, saying:
"Of course I say I don't want to fight Aljo, but if UFC offer fight and if UFC maybe offer me good money or if we are [in a] situation where there is no one else that we can fight then maybe me and Aljo...maybe we could fight."