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With UFC 316 just hours away, Merab Dvalishvili will look to successfully defend his bantamweight title against Sean O'Malley in their upcoming rematch. Though to do so, 'The Machine' will have to fight to the best of his abilities, and any lingering injuries would only hinder him.
That begs the question. Just how often has Dvalishvili been injured throughout his UFC career? Has he ever pulled out of a fight due to injury?
Merab Dvalishvili's injury history
As it turns out, Merab Dvalishvili has never withdrawn from a fight due to injury. He has, though, pulled out due to illness. Back in 2020, he was set to face Cody Stamann at UFC on ESPN 19. Unfortunately, his foe withdrew from the bout for reasons that remain undisclosed, and was replaced by Raoni Barcelos.
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However, Barcelos was himself pulled from the bout due to a medical suspension from a previous fight. So, the matchup with Stamann was rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 184. This time, though, it was the Georgian star who withdrew, after suffering from COVID-19 complications.
He was replaced by Andre Ewell, who also pulled out after testing positive for COVID-19. Askar Askar's services were then enlisted, with the fight being moved to featherweight, but he never made it to the octagon either, after not being medically cleared.
Ultimately, Dvalishvili faced Stamann at UFC Vegas 25, winning via unanimous decision. As far as known injuries Dvalishvili has suffered, he fractured his collarbone in January 2022 while training. He confirmed the injury and wrote on X:
"Badly injured my clavicle bone. Fortunately, no surgery is necessary. Lots of physical therapy and time to heal! I will be back stronger than before."
Check out Merab Dvalishvili's post from January 2022:
A year later, he injured his hand before a UFC Fight Night 221 fight with Petr Yan. Instead of pulling out, Dvalishvili fought with the injury, defeating Yan, a former bantamweight champion, in impressive fashion.
Several fights down the line, 'The Machine' suffered a gnarly cut on his shin while training for his UFC 311 fight against Umar Nurmagomedov.
The cut required stitches and caused a staph infection. To make matters worse, Dvalishvili also suffered a back injury prior to the fight. Nevertheless, he fought while compromised and still won, authoring a stellar performance. Now, ahead of UFC 316, he reportedly bruised a toe while training, but was nothing serious.
