UFC fighter shares graphic images of horrific injury that almost saw his 'leg amputated' before UFC 311
The UFC fighter put on a career-best performance despite the injury.
Ben McCrum
A UFC fighter has shared a series of graphic photos of the brutal injury he suffered shortly before fighting at UFC 311.
The first UFC pay-per-view of the year got underway on Saturday in Los Angeles, with both the men's lightweight and bantamweight titles on the line on an exciting fight card.
Both lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili successfully defended their UFC titles with dominant displays at the event.
But immediately after the event, one of two champions revealed that he had suffered a horrific injury in the build-up the the fight that could have cost him to lose his leg.
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WARNING: Graphic image below of the fighter's injury below.
After Dvalishvili claiming a unanimous decision win over unbeaten fighter Umar Nurmagomedov, his coach, John Wood, revealed that bantamweight champion suffered a brutal injury during training camp which led to his fighter's entire leg becoming infected.
"Someone close to Merab told me that regular people would have probably had their leg amputated, if they had to deal with the staph infection that he had on his leg," renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani revealed
“He was just taping it up and going to practice...Also, as he alluded to, [he had] a very, very serious back injury."
There was significant concern within Dvalishvili's camp that the injury would lead to the fight being called off, particularly because the California commission are known to be particularly strict.
Revealing further details of the injury to Submission Radio, Wood spoke about Dvailihvili's reaction to the injury and his feelings about it going into his career-defining fight on Saturday.
"He got his leg cut up...left it and kept training through it," he said.
"Eventually got it stitched up too late, the stitches busted and then he restitched it and then his whole shin became infected.
"It was a concern of even getting cleared for this fight. The staph infection was gone but the skin we were really afraid of.
"To the point where we got the commission to approve getting it wrapped…
"Merab said: 'I'm not going to show any kind of weakness, I don't care, it's fine, if it breaks open, it breaks open.”
Amazingly, not only was Dvalishvili able to be cleared by the California commission, but he went on to win the fight by unanimous decision, handing Nurmagomedov the first loss in his 19 fight career.
And now, he has revealed that a mistake by the doctor inspecting him before the fight is what allowed him to step into the octagon on Saturday night.
"I was worried the commission was not going to let me fight, California has a very strict commission," Dvalishvili confessed to Helwani.
"The commission guy asked me to show him my shin, so I lifted my left leg pant to show 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."
After the bout, the Georgian's opponent also revealed that he had suffered an injury early in the very first round, breaking his hand and significantly impacting his striking ability for the fight.