The world of mixed martial arts has split into factions after Merab Dvalishvili took to social media and let the world know about a cut above his eye. It was indeed an injury that he received while training for his fight against Sean O’Malley, scheduled for UFC 306. However, Dana White didn’t quite appreciate the update shared by the Georgian-American fighter and lashed out at him during the press conference for his Contender Series. 

But Dvalishvili has now found support from his colleagues. His teammate and former champion Aljamain Sterling took to X and defended the bantamweight title challenger.

Aljamain Sterling defends Merab Dvalishvili against Dana White

During the press conference on the 21st of August, the UFC head honcho was asked if he knew about Dvalishvili’s injury. Without wasting a single moment, White claimed that the whole wide world knew about it. But that wasn’t where he stopped. White continued, “I mean, our guys are so dumb, it’s next-level unbelievable. It’s when that, all the stuff that I talk about boxing, what I will give boxing, is when something happens in a camp, man, let me tell you what, it does not leak. You know, our guys can’t f__ing wait to throw it up on social media. It’s just, it’s a small cut. It’s no big deal. But obviously, needed to be posted.” 

White indeed wanted the fighters to keep such injuries to themselves till the fight was over. The reporter pointed out that it was just like painting a target on his head for O’Malley before the fight. This urged the UFC CEO to call it a stupid act. He said, “It is next-level stupid! Some of these guys are so stupid it’s mind-boggling. It’s unbelievable.”

But Sterling was of a different opinion. He simply deemed that the UFC CEO overreacted to Dvalishvili’s post. The ‘Funkmaster’ tweeted, “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, the ugly, and ppl LOVE him for it. There’s nothing “stupid” about it, period. He’s training, and will show up Sept 14, like he always does. Is this about betting lines?? Is it about a fight cancelation?? Respectfully, this reaction was a bit over the top IMHO.”

It wasn’t just White who bashed the bantamweight title challenger. O’Malley also had a few words of warning for the Georgian fighter, and so did ‘The Machine’.

Sean O’Malley and ‘The Machine’ exchange warnings

Right after Dvalishvili’s injury went viral on social media, the bantamweight champion took to X and quoted, “This little f___kin rat better not pull out I swear to god.” However, ‘The Machine’ had no intention of pulling out of the fight. It was indeed a small cut that can heal within a span of a couple of weeks. 

But ‘Suga’ wasn’t the only one who sent a warning to his opponent. Dvalishvili, in the post where he talked about his injury, claimed that he was getting stronger with every passing moment. Promising that the cut was no reason for him to pull out of UFC Noche, he assured that he would do his best to claim the UFC bantamweight championship belt at UFC 306.

From the looks of it, it was a rather small cut above his eye. However, White’s frustration is not without reason. Firstly, athletic commissions can withhold a fighter from competing if they believe he is compromised. Dvalishvili may not be at risk of that, but now O’Malley knows he has a target on the Georgian’s face. What if he opens up the cut during the fight?

Perhaps the biggest fight stopped because of a cut was the UFC 244 BMF fight between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. White certainly would not want the UFC 306 main event at the Las Vegas Sphere ending in a doctor stoppage.

Last year, just days before UFC 294, Charles Oliveira had a similar injury, but with a much bigger cut, that ruled him out of his rematch with Islam Makhachev. The CEO was utterly furious with the way the Brazilian’s team went about the injury then. Perhaps he got a flashback of the same and imagined something similar happening to the Noche UFC main event.

Either way, what are your thoughts on Dvalishvili’s injury? Do you side with Sterling in his opinion? Was White’s criticism of the Georgian warranted? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.