Dana White Shares Graphic Photo of Fighter Belal Muhammad's Severed Lip

Dana White's showing fans the brutal realities of UFC up close ... sharing a pic of Belal Muhammad peeling apart the two sides of his lip after Jack Della Maddalena split it in two.

The UFC President shared the photo to Instagram hours after Maddalena won the Welterweight belt from Belal by decision ... with White referring to the contest as a "WAR."

He shared Belal's suffering from a broken nose and orbital -- a part of the skull around the eye -- as well as a badly split lip.

The photo -- taken close to Muhammad's face -- shows the swollen nose and cut cheekbone ... but, it's definitely the ruined lip that draws the eye, 'cause it's hanging in two distinct pieces off his face.

It's a pretty brutal, so click at your own risk ... someone is grabbing the lip in the photo, pulling it apart to show the gap -- an experience we have to imagine isn't super fun for Belal.

We actually caught up with Belal just before the fight ... and, he told us he routinely trains with guys much tougher than Maddalena -- and he said he felt like he had an advantage "everywhere."