Merab Dvalishvili could have had ‘leg amputated’ before UFC 311 win over Umar Nurmagomev
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Dvalishvili fought through a back injury and staph infection to beat Nurmagomedov, who broke his own hand during the bout. Merab Dvalishvili’s staph infection at UFC 311 was so severe that “regular people” might have “had their leg amputated” in his position, it has been claimed.
![[Merab Dvalishvili (left) during his narrow win over Umar Nurmagomedov]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/20/10/newFile-2.jpg)
Dvalishvili fought through a back injury and infected leg to win a narrow decision over Umar Nurmagomedov, retaining his bantamweight title in the process. With that result, the Georgian also handed Nurmagomedov – cousin of UFC icon Khabib – his first professional loss. And Nurmagomedov apparently faced his own adversity during the five-round fight, breaking his hand in round one.
“He was just, like, taping it up and going to practice [...] Also, as he alluded to, [he had] a very, very serious back injury.". After UFC 311, Nurmagomedov revealed he had broken his hand early in the fight, a claim that was put to Dvalishvili. The champion said: “I broke my back in training camp and it was some days I cannot get up from the bed.
“I was laid down and I don’t have a training camp, and I don’t have a Khabib Nurmagomedov to help me to train. Some days the P.I. [UFC Performance Institute] was closed. It was Christmas and it was New Year’s and weekends, and it happened a couple of times: Umar was there and the security goes, ‘I’m sorry. We cannot let you go in.’.
