Merab Dvalishvili Denies Internet’s Hilarious Accusation of Hitting NJAC Staffer at UFC 316

Merab Dvalishvili’s UFC 316 walkout did not go to plan at all. As the champ walked out of the tunnel, the barricade holding back the fans in the stands gave out, and they all fell, narrowly missing ‘The Machine.’ The fight would have ended even before it started.

Although Merab himself didn’t get hurt, several fans, as well as a UFC cameraman, got injured after the mishap. Things didn’t end there. When the Georgian stopped to take his clothes off before entering the octagon, he unknowingly hit a female steward, and an MMA page on Instagram turned it into a meme.

They were wondering how the female steward suffered the spinning back fist. They even said she had an ‘Iron Chin’ to make matters worse for Merab. The champ then reacted to the post on Instagram by saying, “Noo.” clearly denying the accusations that it was intentional.

Fans in the comments section joined in on the trolling, too. This Twitter user spoke about how ‘The Machine’s’ luck ran out during his walkout, “His walk-out was a disaster, good thing he didn’t fall down the stairs.” 

“Merab nearly got the first knockdown of his career, what a night!” said one, insinuating that the Georgian has never knocked anyone down in his career.

But that’s far from the truth; in fact, he knocked out Raufeon Stots with a spinning backfist, and it was that punch that impressed Dana White, securing his UFC contract.

Dvalishvili’s life-changing punch

Dana White hosts a series called ‘Lookin For a Fight’ where he travels the world, going to amateur MMA tournaments to find the next big star for the UFC. If he finds someone who impresses him, they are immediately offered a UFC contract.

And those were the stakes for Dvalishvili some eight years ago. In the main event of Ring of Combat 59, he took on Raufeon Stots.

The UFC president had initially come to watch Stots, who was the betting favorite going into the fight. But even White couldn’t have predicted what happened next.

Stots was unbeaten, with a 7-0 record, but White’s co-host Matt Serra, a former UFC champion, knew his opponent personally; in fact, he’s even trained him. Naturally, both White and Serra were expecting a full-on brawl.

But what they got was even better. As soon as the bell rang, Merab threw a kick, and Stots held on to his leg. Using that as a pivot, ‘The Machine’ just turned and hit him with a spinning back fist, knocking him out cold. Both White and Serra jumped out of their seats with excitement and knew that Merab was the fighter they wanted in the UFC.

Merab’s first few fights under the UFC banner would be difficult.He would lose his first couple of fights. But since then, he’s gone on to hold a 13-fight unbeaten streak, putting him in the same company as Jon Jones, Khabib, and GSP.