Merab Dvalishvili may have the heart of a lion inside the Octagon, but right now, it’s his toe that’s making headlines. And not for the right reasons. As ‘The Machine’ gears up for a rematch against Sean O’Malley at UFC 316, the bantamweight champ posted a now-viral video showing off a badly bruised, possibly broken, toe after a sparring mishap.

Not exactly the kind of thing you want to go public with when your biggest fight of the year is just around the corner. After all, remember last September? Dvalishvili casually revealed a stitched-up cut above his eye just weeks before facing O’Malley the first time. That earned him a scolding from UFC boss Dana White, who called the move “next-level stupid.” And this time, it’s Robert Whittaker, a former middleweight champion, who is sounding the alarm!

Robert Whittaker lays out his concerns about Merab Dvalishvili’s toe injury as UFC 316 draws near

On episode 67 of the MMArcade Podcast on YouTube, Robert Whittaker’s co-host, Jonny Roses, kicked off the discussion by asking, “How do you process this? How do you process Merab, just continually doing stuff? Remember the last fight he had a cut as well, was dealing with, and now potentially a broken toe, what do you reckon, man?”

As mentioned above, ‘The Machine’ has repeatedly shared images of injuries he sustains in training on social media ahead of his fights. In fact, after he successfully defended his title against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, Dvalishvili confessed that he had come into the fight with two cuts on his right leg and was battling through a staph infection and antibiotic medications.

Whittaker, in his trademark straightforward manner, then stated, “I don’t know, I don’t know… I think it’s a part of his personality. I see him do wild things all the time. I saw the toe. It doesn’t look good. Like it’s not just bruised, like from the video that I saw, like it looks broken.”

The injury reportedly came during a hard sparring session with Cameron Sandoval, an up-and-comer who trains with Dvalishvili. In the now-viral clip, Dvalishvili jokes, “Why you break my toe, my friend?” to which Sandoval laughs and fires back, “That was you, you kicked me in the head and broke your toe, that was your fault.”

Merab’s response? A horrifying joke as he stated, “I’m going to cut it off.” Although ‘The Reaper’ wasn’t buying the story as he confessed, “To get his toe looking like that, he would have had to jam it between like his opponent… his partner’s head and a cinder block.”

And even though the bantamweight champion was ready to lose a digit to make it to the Octagon, Whittaker rightfully pointed out that, “Your little toe does a lot, it does a lot.” And that’s the key.

Sean O’Malley isn’t just anyone. He’s the UFC’s slickest striker at bantamweight. While Merab Dvalishvili smothered him to the ground to take the belt at UFC 306, that was with two good legs. A busted toe, no matter how minor it may seem, could shift the entire fight dynamic. Especially if it limits the Georgian’s ability to shoot, pivot, or keep balance. Still, this isn’t Dvalishvili’s first walk through fire. And in a recent interview, he came out swinging at the reports that have emerged about his injury!

Dvalishvili is ready to go even with “nine other toes” for Sean O’Malley re-match

While Conor McGregor may have withdrawn from his Michael Chandler fight due to a broken toe, Merab Dvalishvili is cut from a different cloth. And if you’re expecting panic from the Georgian, you’re looking at the wrong fighter. At a recent media scrum in Las Vegas, ‘The Machine’ stated, “I was surprised at how much reaction there was from people reacting, everybody was like [freaking out]. Guys, it’s nothing. Really, it’s nothing.”

As mentioned above, Dana White was furious with Dvalishvili sharing images of his injuries on social media before UFC 306. But this time, the UFC boss has remained silent. The difference? The toe looks better already.

Dvalishvili showed off his foot to the cameras and shared, “As you guys see, no more black and blue, still a little fat, but it’s good. As you see, I’m walking. It’s a little pinky toe, it won’t be any problem. … like I said, I have nine other toes. I’m good.”

So here we are again. Merab Dvalishvili might be walking wounded, but make no mistake, he’s still marching toward war. Broken toe or not, the bantamweight champion is laughing in the face of concern, joking about amputations and brushing off fan panic like it’s nothing but noise. But when the cage door shuts behind him at UFC 316, will he be able to run through Sean O’Malley? Or will one pinky toe end up costing him dearly? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!