Merab Dvalishvili explains how he tricked California Athletic Commission to fight at UFC 311

Merab Dvalishvili delivered one of the best performances of his career at UFC 311, defending the bantamweight title with an impressive decision victory over Umar Nurmagomedov. However, he nearly didn’t make it to the Octagon at all.

In the wake of UFC 311, Dvalishvili opened up on an injury he suffered before the fight. He sustained a bad cut on his shin in training, and he might not have been cleared to compete at all had he not found a way to fool a representative from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).

How did he pull it off? Apparently, he showed the CSAC rep the same leg twice to avoid revealing his cut.

This is absolutely crazy 😅

Merab talks getting cleared by CSAC with the cut on his leg ahead of UFC 311.

“I was worried the commission was not going to let me fight… California has a very strict commission… The commision guy asked me to show me him my shin, so I lifted my… pic.twitter.com/MqNG2bIn3o

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 20, 2025

“I was worried the commission was not going to let me fight,” Dvalishvili told Ariel Helwani. “California has a very strict commission… The commission guy asked me to show me him my shin, so I lifted my left pant leg to show him my shin. He kept talking and then asked to show my other leg, so I showed him my left leg again and then he never knew about the cut.”

Who should Merab Dvalishvili fight next?

Merab Dvalishvili won the bantamweight title with a decision of Sean O’Malley last September. His UFC 311 win over Nurmagomedov his first successful title defense. The Russian challenger had some success early in the fight, but Dvalishvili took control in rounds three, four and five for a clear-cut decision win. It was his 12th victory in a row. Other highlights of his streak include defeats of Marlon Moraes, Petr Yan, Jose Aldo, and Henry Cejudo.

It’s not clear who he’ll fight next, but rematches with O’Malley and Yan both seem like possibilities. Whomever he fights, hopefully he has a clean bill of health.