Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has revealed that he has suffered another broken nose in the wake of his win over Frankie Edgar at RAF 09.
When talking about some of the toughest guys currently competing in mixed martial arts, Merab Dvalishvili has to be located towards the top of that list, especially if we are specifically looking at people in the smaller weight classes. Sure, his insane gas tank is a big part of his success, but he is also able to withstand great punishment and keep pushing forward.
In the UFC, of course, Merab Dvalishvili is no longer holding gold as a result of his recent defeat at the hands of Petr Yan. His hope, seemingly, is that he will get the call to go up against Yan for the third time, but it’s hard to say exactly what the promotion’s plans are going to be given how things are playing out at 135 pounds.
In terms of his RAF run, Merab Dvalishvili revealed after the aforementioned win over Edgar that he had once again picked up a nose injury, something that has become a running theme for him in his career.
Merab Dvalishvili confirms broken nose
“The nose was fine before, but I got a head butt and broke [my nose again],” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting after the match. “Who cares? I broke my nose many times. It’s never going to stop me. It’s just the nose broken. That’s what we do and it’s all good.”
“I like to be busy,” Dvalishvili said. “As you guys know, I’m ready for a fight. I’m just waiting for Petr Yan, hopefully he will come back. I just saw he’s on vacation right now. I like to be busy and thank you, RAF.”
Quotes via MMA Fighting
While Merab likes to be busy, we are talking about someone who messed up his nose as recently as two months ago, and someone who has continually been involved in training incidents away from active competition. While it may not seem like the biggest deal in the world, this is a man who is now 35 years of age.
The Georgian sensation is obviously ‘built different’ in a way that we have rarely ever seen at the elite level in the UFC. Alas, he needs to start thinking about his long term future beyond the fight game, because if he keeps on breaking his nose or picking up other notable injuries, it may harm whatever he decides to go after hanging up his gloves.
For the time being, we will just have to wait and see whether or not he books another RAF match – or something along those lines – before locking horns with Petr Yan once again.
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