Dvalishvili breaks nose again in wrestling win over Frankie Edgar at RAF 9

Merab Dvalishvili picked up a dominant technical fall victory over UFC Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar at RAF 9 on Saturday, but left the mat with a broken nose for the second time in eight weeks after an accidental head clash early in the bout.

The collision happened while the two were battling for position, and Dvalishvili immediately reached for his face. He pushed through the injury to complete the win, his debut appearance in the RAF wrestling format.

“The nose was fine before, but I got a head butt and broke [my nose again],” Dvalishvili said after the match. “Who cares? I broke my nose many times. It’s never going to stop me. It’s just the nose broken. That’s what we do and it’s all good.”

The Georgian bantamweight had suffered an almost identical injury eight weeks earlier during training at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, and he appeared similarly unbothered on Saturday, describing the latest break as “just another typical day in my life.”

Dvalishvili wasted little time looking ahead after the win, calling out Henry Cejudo for a wrestling match and signalling his continued appetite for competition outside the UFC cage. His more pressing priority, however, remains a trilogy fight with reigning bantamweight champion Petr Yan. Dvalishvili was promised another shot at Yan after losing to him at UFC 323 in December, a result that levelled their head-to-head series at 1-1.

No date has been set for that third meeting, and Dvalishvili acknowledged he has no clarity on when it will materialise, noting that Yan is currently on vacation. For now, the broken nose at least gives him time to recover before the biggest fight of his career.

“I like to be busy,” Dvalishvili said. “I’m ready for a fight. I’m just waiting for Petr Yan, hopefully he will come back.”