Dana White falls for fake news involving Merab Dvalishvili's training injury, 'The Machine' chimes in

Dana White recently reacted to a false report claiming Merab Dvalishvili sustained an injury during training. ‘The Machine’ will defend his bantamweight crown in a rematch against Sean O'Malley, set to headline UFC 316 on June 7 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

With just three weeks to go before his second title defense, Dvalishvili took to social media on Friday to share a series of photos from a latest sparring session. Notably, the 34-year-old Georgian appeared to be bleeding beneath his left eye.

A well-known combat sports satire account on X shared a doctored image of the reigning 135-pound champion, falsely claiming that UFC CEO Dana White had reacted to the injury with an Instagram story that read, "this f*cking guy just never learns." The fabricated post quickly gained traction and even caught White’s attention, prompting him to respond in the comments to shut down the hoax. He wrote:

"Total BULLSH*T."

Check out Dana White's comment below:

Dvalishvili also joined the conversation in the comments, humorously echoing one of White’s signature remarks:

"Thanks boss. If you don’t know now you know… lol."

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below:

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Dvalishvili has been seen nursing visible injuries during training camp, as he was also spotted with a facial laceration ahead of his first title clash against 'Sugar' at UFC 306 last September.

At the time, White openly rebuked 'The Machine', even going so far as to call him "dumb" for exposing his injury on social media just days before of one of the most pivotal bouts of his career.

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When Aljamain Sterling fired back at Dana White over Merab Dvalishvili controversy

Merab Dvalishvili’s longtime training partner and close friend, Aljamain Sterling, came to his defense during the uproar surrounding his facial cut in the lead-up to UFC 306. In August 2024, the former bantamweight champion took to X to minimize the severity of the injury, insisting it wasn’t a cause for concern.

However, 'Funk Master' also remarked that Dana White’s harsh reaction may have been unwarranted and overly critical:

"Everyone is making a much bigger deal over 'the little cut,' even the boss. Merab shares his stories of training camp, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and people LOVE him for it. There’s nothing 'stupid' about it, period. He’s training and will show up on Sept. 14, as he always does. Is this about betting lines?? Is it about a fight cancelation?? Respectfully, this reaction was a bit over the top, IMHO."

Check out Aljamain Sterling's post below: