Dana White was in awe of the “next-level stupid” move by Merab Dvalishvili to post himself getting stitched up around the eye less than three weeks out from his UFC 306 title fight with Sean O’Malley. Although Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) and his team assured it was no big deal, White was strongly adamant that it was a foolish move for the upcoming bantamweight title challenger to lay out a target for O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) going into the Sept. 14 headliner of Noche UFC, which takes place at Sphere in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+. Related Coach explains why Sean O'Malley at disadvantage training for Merab Dvalishvili before UFC 306 Dana White scolds UFC 306's Merab Dvalishvili for posting cut: 'Next-level stupid' Sean O'Malley eyes UFC 306 knockout, 145-pound title shot, then 'a big boxing fight' White identified this as a UFC problem. He credited boxing for doing a better job of keeping injuries and training issues in-house, and criticized essentially his entire roster – and most specifically Dvalishvili – after the footage created a brief scare about the fight being off.
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