Dvalishvili refuses surgery despite nose breaks

Merab Dvalishvili has 21 wins in 26 MMA bouts

• Published1 hour ago

Merab Dvalishvili has broken his nose in two places but says he will refuse surgery until he retires from MMA.

The former UFC bantamweight champion has injured his nose numerous times in his career and says another "stupid accident" in sparring has caused further damage.

Dvalishvili, 35, said he first broke his nose on his pro debut in 2014 and he cannot breathe out of one of his nostrils.

"The X-ray shows my nose is broken in two places," said Dvalishvili, who shared the scan of his nose on his social media., external

"I just saw doctor, nose surgeon and he said he will fix my nose again and make it straight.

"He has to break other bones too, and it will take one more year to heal up.

"Of course, I don't want to do that, otherwise, he says, 'keep it that way and you can do surgery after your retirement'. I said, 'I'm not going to retirement for the next 20 years'.

"So I guess I'm going to keep my nose even more cracked than it used to be before and I'm going to deal with it."

Dvalishvili is waiting for his next fight after losing the UFC title to Petr Yan last December.

The Georgian was on a remarkable run of three successful title defences in a calendar year before slipping up against Yan in their rematch at UFC 323.

The UFC is expected to book a trilogy fight between the rivals in the coming months.

Dvalishvili is also scheduled to take part in a wrestling match against retired UFC legend Henry Cejudo on 18 April.

Two-weight UFC champion Cejudo and Dvalishvili fought each other in the UFC before the American retired, a match the latter won on points.

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