Abu Dhabi Court Jails 8 Over Hotel Brawl Involving Merab Dvalishvili
An Abu Dhabi court sentenced eight people to six months in prison over a hotel brawl involving UFC ex-champion Merab Dvalishvili and Usman Nurmagomedov's camp. The RAF wrestling card at Etihad Arena still goes ahead Saturday, with a late replacement for Umar Nurmagomedov.
An Abu Dhabi court has sentenced eight people to six months in prison over a hotel brawl involving former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, days before the RAF wrestling event at Etihad Arena in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.
The fight broke out Wednesday at the host hotel of the Real American Fighting (RAF) event. Police arrested and detained everyone involved.
What the court ordered
The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department said six members of Usman Nurmagomedov's team were each sentenced to six months in prison. Each was fined 300,000 AED (approximately $81,700) and ordered to be deported after serving the sentence.
Two people who filmed the altercation also received six-month prison terms for violating privacy laws by filming and publishing footage, according to reports from the UAE. The court confiscated their phones so the footage could be deleted.
Later reports said Nurmagomedov himself was among the eight defendants sentenced.
Dvalishvili and a friend were fined 50,000 AED (approximately $13,600) for disturbing public security and assaulting others, according to the same reports.
How it started
Usman Nurmagomedov, the PFL lightweight champion and cousin of retired MMA star Khabib Nurmagomedov, approached Dvalishvili from behind and slapped him. That set off a wider fight between the two camps.
Video of the aftermath showed bruising on the faces of Dvalishvili and his friend Saba Lazishvili, and Dvalishvili badly bloodied. RAF chief executive Chad Bronstein said Dvalishvili was later released.
Dvalishvili confirmed it in a social media post on November 13. He said he was "good, healthy and ready to go." He added that he hoped everyone involved would be released.
"I want peace and the best for all," he wrote.
Rivalry and the card
Tension has run between the camps since Dvalishvili beat Usman's older brother Umar Nurmagomedov in a UFC bantamweight title fight in January 2025. They clashed in a smaller altercation at an RAF event in Georgia in July.
Umar Nurmagomedov was due to wrestle former UFC champion Urijah Faber on Saturday. Lazishvili, a 21-year-old Georgian wrestler who was in the brawl, replaces him on less than a day's notice. It will be his professional freestyle wrestling debut.
Dvalishvili still plans to fight former UFC champion Marlon Moraes on the same card.
UFC CEO Dana White spoke about the brawl at a news conference in New York on Thursday. "It's absolutely ridiculous and stupid, and they're all in jail," he said.
Usman Nurmagomedov, 28, is undefeated and recently fought out his exclusive PFL contract. There had been speculation he might sign with the UFC.
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