Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov involved in Abu Dhabi hotel brawl

Merab Dvalishvili and Usman Nurmagomedov were involved in a hotel-lobby brawl in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, according to BBC Sport. The report identified Dvalishvili as a former UFC bantamweight champion and Nurmagomedov as the PFL lightweight champion. Members of both fighters' teams became involved after the initial confrontation between the pair.

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The BBC reported that footage appeared to show Nurmagomedov approaching Dvalishvili from behind and slapping him before fighting spread through the lobby. Dvalishvili later posted a video on TikTok showing him receiving treatment for a bloodied face. In that recording, he criticised the way he had been approached and challenged Nurmagomedov and his team over their conduct.

Dvalishvili, 35, is scheduled to face Brazil's Marlon Moraes at a Real American Freestyle event in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday. Umar Nurmagomedov, Usman's older brother, is also due to compete on the card, against American Urijah Faber. The BBC report did not announce any changes to those scheduled appearances following Wednesday's incident.

There is a history of tension between the camps. Dvalishvili criticised Umar Nurmagomedov before defeating him in a UFC bantamweight title fight in 2025. The BBC also reported an earlier altercation involving the two camps before a RAF event in July. Those previous confrontations formed part of the competing accounts offered by other fighters after the hotel footage circulated.

UFC champion Islam Makhachev, a close friend and training partner of the Nurmagomedovs, suggested the July incident had contributed to Wednesday's confrontation. In a social-media post quoted by the BBC, he accused Dvalishvili of striking a Dagestani wrestler and making an insult during the earlier dispute. That explanation was Makhachev's account, rather than an independently established finding about the cause of the hotel fight.

Ilia Topuria, a two-weight UFC champion and friend of Dvalishvili, shared footage on X and condemned Nurmagomedov and those accompanying him. The incident comes ahead of an event in a promotion that also attracts fighters active elsewhere in MMA. The BBC noted that Khamzat Chimaev, Arman Tsarukyan and Colby Covington had all recently appeared in RAF.