Merab Dvalishvili jumped by Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin to spark hotel brawl
Merab Dvalishvili was jumped by Usman Nurmagomedov to spark a brawl in an Abu Dhabi hotel, leaving the former UFC champion bloodied and bruised.
Key points
- The Georgian looked stunned by the initial attack but as Nurmagomedov’s team came in with follow-up shots, a huge fight between the two fighters and their respective entourages then broke out in the hotel lobby.
- "Merab started what happened today in his homeland by allowing himself to hit a guest and insulting his mother." Nurmagomedov is being heavily linked with a move to the UFC after entering free agency following his final PFL fight in the summer.
Dvalishvili was filming an interview when PFL lightweight champion Nurmagomedov, the cousin of legendary former UFC fighter Khabib, walk up to the bantamweight from behind before slapping him.
Additional details
- Former two-weight UFC champion Ilia Topuria, a friend of Dvalishvili who also fights out of Georgia, blasted Nurmagomedov and his attackers as he reacted to the footage of the fracas on X.
- "Why were you silent when Merab hit a Dagestani wrestler for nothing and hurt his honor?" wrote Makhachev, who is a close friend and training partner of the Nurmagomedov family.
- Dvalishvili took to social media after the altercation to brand Russia’s Nurmagomedov and his team “snakes”, posting a video of him receiving treatment for his injuries.
- What the f***.” Dvalishvili, 35, is due to wrestle at the Real American Freestyle (RAF) event in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, taking on Brazilian Marlon Moraes.
- Just two of us, me and my friend, came here in Abu Dhabi and Usman and his friends came like snakes from behind.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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