\u201conly at 50 percent\u201d<\/a> in the first fight. Those excuses don\u2019t sit well with Dvalishvili\u2019s head coach John Wood, who scoffed at so many opponents explaining why they lost rather than taking responsibility for losing.<\/p>\n\u201cPetr Yan\u2019s back into the mix and all of a sudden it\u2019s \u2018I was 50 percent for the last fight.\u2019 Why are we hearing about that now two and a half years later or whatever?\u201d Wood told MMA Fighting. \u201cFifty percent? Well, OK, Merab\u2019s a lot better than he was then so I think it\u2019s still going to balance out the same way for you.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do get tired of the whole fighters [saying] \u2018I was injured.\u2019 Don\u2019t take the fight then. Don\u2019t take the fight. If you\u2019ve got bad ribs that it\u2019s so bad that when you lose, you\u2019re going to blame it on that then why are we fighting? Don\u2019t fight. Just shut your mouth and do what you\u2019re supposed to do. Everybody gets in there injured.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood revealed Dvalishvili was severely compromised going into the first fight against Yan but he powered through and still got the job done.<\/p>\n
Truth be told, the Syndicate MMA head coach knows almost every UFC athlete is dealing with bumps, bruises and injuries heading into a fight but it\u2019s the ability to overcome those ailments that separate the contenders from the champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you this when Merab fought Petr Yan, we had some nasty injuries,\u201d Wood said. \u201cHis hand was the size of a football when he went in there. He could barely get his hand in the glove. He had a complete broken hand in that fight. Going into it. Never hear a word about it. You\u2019ll never hear a word about those things and he still did what he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s going to say what they need to say to feel better and that\u2019s OK, that\u2019s part of the game. The whole injury thing \u2014 saying you can beat another guy, no problem, I\u2019m good with that. But I lost because of injury, it\u2019s a little kind of cringey.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a similar situation when Dvalishvili fought Umar Nurmagomedov this past January. According to Wood, Dvalishvili was dealing with all sorts of issues heading into the fight.<\/p>\n
While Nurmagomedov suffered a broken thumb during the title bout that left him compromised, Wood says Dvalishvili was in such bad shape he almost wished the fight didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod as my witness, I was really hoping that maybe the commission wouldn\u2019t clear him just because of how unhealthy he was,\u201d Wood said. \u201cIt was never a thing of like knowing he couldn\u2019t do it. Because his sparring, even how messed up he was for that, his sparring was so good. This dude would come in, could barely walk, sick and get in there and just beat the shit out of everybody for 10 rounds. I mean like nothing was wrong. Great sparring and then leave and be busted up again. So I knew he was capable of doing it, there was never a question and I knew there was no way he was going to pull out of that fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it was a scary thought. Because it\u2019s like Umar is a tough dude, he\u2019s a very talented, tough dude from a very good camp. Those fears of like, \u2018Oh my god if I don\u2019t pull him out, something bad happens, it\u2019s on me.\u2019 But again, I know what kind of dog I\u2019ve got in that fight and Merab would have to lose a limb for me to probably pull him out of a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now Wood sympathizes with fighters coming up short and believing things could go differently in a rematch.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s effectively what Cory Sandhagen said after falling in lopsided fashion to Dvalishvili at UFC 320. Just days later, Sandhagen gave Dvalishvili praise for his performance, but added he still looks at the UFC bantamweight champion as an \u201cabsolutely winnable fight\u201d<\/a> if they met again.<\/p>\n\u201cTo fight the champion, you\u2019re the next best guy,\u201d Wood said. \u201cHe\u2019s got to talk himself into the fight. He\u2019s got to be confident. He\u2019s got to say those things. He\u2019s got to do that. That\u2019s fine. That\u2019s part of the fight game. The reality is we know that\u2019s not the truth. You can\u2019t do what Merab does. No one can emulate it. You can\u2019t emulate it in a room. You can have 10 new fresh guys on you every time and if you don\u2019t get tired, great. Good for you. That\u2019s not Merab.<\/p>\n
\u201cMerab is going to bring a different problem to you that you have never solved. A different kind of power. A different kind of explosion. A different kind of timing. Just when you think you\u2019ve got Merab figured out, he\u2019s going to change it up on you. I don\u2019t fault Cory or anybody, these guys all talk. Some of these guys talk themselves up so big and then you just get smashed and then you\u2019ve got to go deal with that after. I think at this point in time, everybody\u2019s going to say the same thing: I think I can figure this out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether opponents talk trash or say nothing before a showdown against Dvalishvili, Wood expects the same outcome no matter what.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m quite happy when guys start talking shit to Merab or saying things, whatever. The man doesn\u2019t need motivation,\u201d Wood said. \u201cYou just saw, there was no beef between him and Cory but if you start diminishing what he\u2019s done or already done to you or start diminishing his skill set, he is going to prove to you in a big way that\u2019s probably not the smartest thing. I do think the Petr Yan fight, I don\u2019t see a world where Merab doesn\u2019t win it. Anything can happen. I don\u2019t try to shit talk or try to diminish the skill sets. Yan is a great fighter. I\u2019m a big fan of Petr Yan. If not for Merab, he\u2019s in title contention, same thing with Sandhagen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a fan of these guys. I like watching them. I like their coaches. They\u2019re very well coached guys but Merab has only gotten better. Not saying Yan hasn\u2019t gotten better. I\u2019m not in that camp, I don\u2019t know but Merab has gotten better and by that time, he will get better. I think if you go back and watch what happened in that fight, this Merab finishes that Petr Yan no problem and in multiple different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n