Dana White is shocked and frustrated that Merab Dvalishvili publicly shared his minor training injury on social media, fearing it could jeopardize the high-stakes UFC 306 event.
Dana White can’t believe Merab Dvalishvili would do something like that.
On Tuesday, Dvalishvili got a small cut above his left eye during training. It needed stitches, so he immediately posted about it on social media. Just 25 days out from his bantamweight title fight against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306!
Dvalishvili insisted the injury wouldn’t impact his training or force him out of the bout. “Everything is good, my friends. It’s happening all the time. This is nothing,” he said. “I’m getting stitched up and will continue training tonight, tomorrow, all week. I feel great. O’Malley is in big trouble. This little cut is only going to make me stronger.”
Despite Dvalishvili’s insistence, White was shocked he’d post this in the first place.
“The whole world knows about Merab’s cut; he posted it,” White said during his media scrum after Contender Series. “Our guys are so dumb, it’s next-level unbelievable. All the stuff I talk about boxing… when something happens in a camp, let me tell you what, it does not leak."
"Our guys can’t f*cking wait to throw it up on social media. It’s a small cut. It’s no big deal but obviously needed to be posted," he added with clear frustration.
“And why the f*ck would you want [O’Malley] to know that?! It is next-level stupid,” White continued. “Some of these guys are so stupid it’s mind-boggling. Unbelievable.”
O’Malley had his own take on Dvalishvili’s cut.
After White’s comments, Dvalishvili posted another video showing he was already back to training with stitches. He reiterated that he still planned to fight at UFC 306.
White might be extra upset due to the high stakes surrounding UFC 306. Dubbed Riyadh Season Noche UFC, the event takes place at Sphere in Las Vegas and is promoted as “the greatest live sporting event of all-time.”
The event is allegedly extremely costly, and anything happening to the main event has White understandably nervous.
“No,” White said when asked about a possible backup fighter for UFC 306. He knocked on wood and added, “Don’t you dare throw the jinx on me. The cost of doing this production, if we have to change anything, is f*cking devastating.”
UFC 306 takes place on Sept. 14.