Icebreaker: UFC star Merab Dvalishvili BUSTED OPEN after dive into frozen lake goes badly wrong (VIDEO)

Georgian UFC star Merab Dvalishvili got more than he bargained for when what he thought would be a cool swim in an icy lake instead turned into some nasty head wounds and a trip to the emergency room.

Dvalishvili has been in impressive form in the Octagon in recent times, winning five straight to announce himself as a serious threat in the bantamweight division - but none of his recent opponents seem to have caused quite as much damage to the 30-year-old slugger as what happened when he decided to take an impromptu dip while he was out for a run. 

"I thought a great day to train and run in the park. Then I saw a pond which I thought was snow and water. BUT it turned out to be all ice and tree branches sticking out," he explained on Instagram alongside a video showing exactly what happened.

"As soon as I broke threw the ice I felt my skin peeling off. BUT nothing more painful than when they stapled my skin back together! It's all good now ... feeling great."

The video posted by Dvalishvili shows him removing items of clothes at an unidentified snowy location, before he attempts to plunge headfirst into what he thought was just icy-water. 

Instead, his head collided with the frozen ice with the sounds of a sickening thud - prompting Dvalishvili to quickly escape from the lake and hold his head in pain as blood drips down his forearms.

Thankfully, 'The Machine' didn't suffer any serious injuries in the incident despite requiring wounds on his head to be stapled shut.

Dvalishvili was intended to pursue his sixth consecutive win in the UFC this weekend in Las Vegas against the gritty Cody Stamann but was forced out of the fight due to complications associated with a diagnosis of Covid-19.