Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili made a wild admission during a live broadcast this past Friday. While making an appearance on a stream hosted by popular content creator N3on, the mixed martial arts star casually revealed that he actively bypassed pandemic-era mandates by purchasing fake COVID-19 vaccination papers.
The confession came unexpectedly during a Q&A session. A viewer tipped a dollar on N3on’s stream to ask if Merab would fly him out of Finland to train. The fighter politely said no, then abruptly derailed the conversation.
I have COVID now and I can’t smell,” Dvalishvili blurted out, laughing as he shared his current health status.
N3on, visibly caught off guard, asked if he was being serious about actively carrying the COVID while sitting right next to him. Dvalishvili simply brushed off the concern. “It’s okay, bro. You’ll have it too,” he replied.
After N3on mentioned that he had received five COVID-19 vaccine doses, Dvalishvili shared a story from the pandemic.
In America, we was getting vaccine. Mm hmm. I fake it. I make, I make, I pay somebody to have a fake vaccine paper. Yeah, I’ll never get [vaccinated],” he said.
Click here to watch full stream (Timestamp: 1:59:06-2:00:50)
Neon immediately realized the gravity of the confession. He asked the UFC contender if he was sure he wanted to broadcast this to a live audience. Dvalishvili brushed off the concern quickly. “But I don’t care, bro. I’m an old school guy, I tell you, bro.”
When pressed on the cost, Merab Dvalishvili confirmed he paid a “couple of hundred dollars” for the fake document. Neon pushed further, asking for the supplier’s name. Dvalishvili shut that down with an expletive, refusing to expose the source.
Merab Dvalishvili Remains Sidelined Heading Into Summer
Former UFC bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili is still waiting on his next fight. It’s been quiet since he dropped the belt to Petr Yan at UFC 323 back in December, though he’s still holding onto the No. 1 contender spot and sits ninth on the men’s pound-for-pound list. A trilogy fight with Yan has been heavily rumored for months, but nothing is officially on the books.
He hasn’t been sitting around, though. Dvalishvili is gearing up for a grappling match against Henry Cejudo at an RAF Wrestling show in Georgia on July 11. He’s also nursing a broken nose from training and recently took the unusual step of dropping his personal phone number on social media to track down a new wrestling coach.
During a recent livestream, the same broadcast where he made headlines for his vaccine remarks, Merab also spoke about his close friend Ilia Topuria’s loss to Justin Gaethje. He accused Gaethje of using dirty tactics to blind Ilia Topuria during the bout, saying the loss has been so upsetting that he hasn’t slept in two weeks.
Dvalishvili originally made history back in September 2024 by dethroning Sean O’Malley to become the UFC’s first Georgian-born champion, and he remains one of the biggest names on the roster today.
