Merab Dvalishvili struggling to breathe after suffering gruesome injury weeks out from return

Merab Dvalishvili has broken his nose for the second time in his career, but is still pursuing a return this month.

The former UFC bantamweight champion hasn’t fought since dropping his title to Petr Yan at UFC 323 last December.

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Dvalishvili won the crown for the first time by defeating Sean O’Malley at UFC 306, and incredibly defended it three times in 11 months before being well beaten by Yan.

In February, it was announced that the 35-year-old from Georgia would contest his next bout in a new promotion.

‘The Machine’ is set to face fellow ex-UFC champion and Olympic gold medallist Henry Cejudo in the main event of RAF08 on April 18, before he makes a comeback to Dana White‘s promotion.

However, Dvalishvili revealed on Wednesday that his training was disrupted following a nasty injury in sparring.

Despite the injury, Dvalishvili says he’s still ready to compete.

Dvalishvili suffers second broken nose

“What a good day and what a stupid accident again, 12 years after my nose was f***ed up,” Dvalishvili said in a video on social media.

“Even worse, as you see, it’s even more cracked in the same direction and when I touch my bones, they are broken inside.

“On one side, I can’t even breathe. I’m gonna do an X-ray now. I’m sure the UFC will help me with that.

“The first time I broke my nose, it was on my professional debut, now it was just sparring — I got kneed.”

Dvalishvili made his pro debut in January 2014 and signed for the UFC less than four years later.

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Although he was unsuccessful in his first two fights, ‘The Machine’ went on a remarkable 14-fight winning streak that included winning UFC gold before suffering his first defeat in seven years to Yan.

And it seems like he’ll be heading into his next UFC fight with a big hindrance.

Dvalishvili said he had his nose checked out by a doctor and the results weren’t exactly what he was hoping to hear.

“The X-ray shows that my nose is broken in two places,” Dvalishvili added.

“I just saw the doctor, not a surgeon. He said he will if he fixes my nose to make it straight, he will have to rebreak other bones too.

“And it will take one more year to heal up. Of course. I don’t want to do that.

“Otherwise, he said, keep it that way and you can do surgery after your retirement.

“I said I’m not going to retire in the next 20 years! So I guess I’m gonna keep my nose even more cracked than it used to be before.

“I’m gonna deal with it and I’m still gonna compete at wrestling tournament against Henry Cejudo, RAF, and that’s it.”

When is Dvalishvili’s next fight?

RAF08 takes place at Philadelphia’s Liacouras Center on April 18.

The card also features top-ranked UFC lightweight Arman Tsarukyan facing off against Urijah Faber.

Yan, meanwhile, remains the UFC bantamweight champion, having undergone lumbar surgery after his war against Dvalishvili.

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He returned to training in late March and is waiting for a trilogy against Dvalishvili to make his return, with it now being one apiece.

Dvalishvili defeated Yan over five rounds in their first meeting three years ago.

“As soon as Merab is ready and fully recovered, it’s going to happen,” Yan said at an IBA Pro Boxing event in January.

“Either this spring or summer.”

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