Merab Dvalishvili defended his bantamweight belt for the first time, despite several nasty injuries.
'The Machine' lived up to his nickname as he used superior cardio to defeat Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event of UFC 311 on Saturday night.
Merab Dvalishvili worried fans by talking about retirement during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.
The 34-year-old continued to say outrageous things while speaking to the media backstage at Dana White's first pay-per-view show of 2025.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Merab Dvalishvili reveals serious injuries after UFC 311
It was revealed that Umar Nurmagomedov broke his hand in the first round after UFC 311.
A photo of his swollen knuckles went viral before Dvalishvili was asked to respond to the news.
The proud Georgian fighter responded by revealing the serious injury he suffered before UFC 311.
“I broke my back during training camp,” Dvalishvili said.
“That's it [so bad] some days I couldn't get out of bed and I would be put down, and I wouldn't have a training camp, and I don't have a cousin like Khabib Nurmagomedov to help me train.
“Some days the UFC PI was closed. It was Christmas, New Year and weekends. It happened a few times, Umar was there and the secretary said, 'Sorry, we can't let you in.'
“I'm not making this excuse. You are a damn fighter and you have to find a way to win.”
It is currently unclear whether Dvalishvili's broken back has been confirmed by an X-ray, or if he is just using that word to refer to some other form of injury to his spine.
Mike Tyson made a similar claim in a famous interview
Amazingly, this isn't the first time a famous fighter has claimed to have a broken back after scoring a high-profile victory.
Mike Tyson said he was dealing with the same injury as Dvalishvili during the final victory of his Hall of Fame boxing career, in which he bounced back from being stopped by Lennox Lewis to defeat Clifford Etienne in February 2023.
'Iron Mike' scored a 49-second knockout before jumping on the mic and giving a great post-fight interview, revealing a very serious injury.
“I broke my back. My back is broken,” Tyson once said.
“[It was] spine. I broke my back. I don't even know where I stand. It's a miracle.
'The doctor took me to the pain center and I wasn't supposed to fight, but what should I do? I'm going to take care of my family.”
In 2020, Tyson clarified his comments by pointing out that he was dealing with chronic back pain after suffering serious injuries in a high-speed motorcycle accident that led to surgery in 1997.
“Listen, I have a bad back and with all the work I've done over the years, the spine in my back just starts to shift,” he explained.
“I have to have surgery, but the doctor said, 'Hey, eventually you're going to have to bend over.'
“And so I tried to explain my situation. I just wasn't eloquent enough to explain it the way I wanted it explained.”
Related topics
Comments