“The Machine” doesn’t need a pinky toe because he’s got more toes.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili is gearing up to defend his title for the second time in a high-stakes rematch against Sean O’Malley next weekend (Sat., June 7, 2025) at UFC 316, live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Last week, Dvalishvili broke his pinky toe while drilling for this massive rematch, catching a training partner’s head with a kick. He laughed it off, saying, “I’ll just chop it off!” His coach, John Wood, added: “You’d have to kill this guy to keep him out of the cage.”
Fast forward a week, and this lunatic still hasn’t let his toe heal by refusing to take days off. Former UFC champion Michael Bisping, curious about the toe damage, asked “The Machine” about it, mainly since Conor McGregor tanked UFC 313 by bailing over a busted pinky toe.
It’s safe to say Dvalishvili is not McGregor when it comes to broken pinky toes.
“I don’t want to comment about Conor McGregor’s toe because I don’t know exactly the pain he was in or the situation, but I still have nine other toes, so I am fine,” Dvalishvili said.
If that isn’t a Merab answer, I don’t know what is. However, he did reveal that his toe is totally fine.
“Toe is good, like I said, if I need to, I will cut it off, but I don’t need to cut it,” Dvalishvili said. “It’s good, it’s good. It doesn’t bother me.”
If “The Machine” somehow drops this rematch—his first ever—to O’Malley next weekend, he’s got a ready-made excuse with his busted pinky toe and his own admission he’s struggling to “to motivate” himself. But don’t get it twisted: he’s hell-bent on finishing O’Malley this time, not just outpointing him like in their first scrap.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
