Merab Dvalishvili responds to Dana White’s criticism of leaked head cut ahead of UFC 306

UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili has responded to Dana White’s harsh rhetoric about his decision to show off a nasty head cut on social media.

Dvalishvili will face UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley in the UFC 306 main event on September 14 in Las Vegas. The event marks the first major sporting event held at the Las Vegas Sphere.

Ahead of UFC 306, Dvalishvili gave MMA fans a brief scare when he shared footage of him getting a head cut stitched up on his social media pages. The post infuriated White, who called Dvalishvili “next-level stupid” for sharing it.

Dvalishvili then shared another post days later, showing him removing his stitches in an unorthodox fashion. This, too, irked White and the matchmakers.

While Dvalishvili says he’s 100 percent healthy heading into UFC 306, he was surprised by White’s reaction to his posts.

Merab Dvalishvili: “No regrets” over upsetting Dana White

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie‘s Mike Bohn, Dvalishvili was asked if he regretted posting his cut to social media.

“I never regret what I did,” Dvalishvili said. “I post this because I post everything in my social media. It wasn’t a big deal because I had more than three weeks when I got cut, and I know that my cut will take five days to heal up, and then this cut didn’t affect my training, my sparring – nothing. As you see, I’m healed up. Everything is good…

“When I saw Dana was upset, of course I don’t want to upset Dana White and UFC or do something like that. But I was very calm and relaxed because it wasn’t a big deal. I don’t regret nothing. This is who I am, this is what I do, and this is my life. That’s why I’m a fighter, and this is my life and what I do.”

The brief crisis has appeared to be averted ahead of UFC 306. But, White likely remains agitated at one of his top bantamweights leaking an injury.