Ex-UFC champ left bloodied after wild resort brawl with rivals
An ex-UFC bantamweight champ was left bloodied after an alleged slap-from-behind by another fighter sparked a huge Abu Dhabi hotel lobby brawl, with both athletes detained
A mixed martial arts (MMA) star was left bloodied (Image: x)
A mixed martial arts star was left bloodied and raging after an alleged attack by another pro-fighter, sparking a chaotic brawl inside a hotel. Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili was slapped from behind by PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.
Both fighters were subsequently detained by local authorities after the ruckus in an Abu Dhabi hotel lobby on Wednesday (November 11). Dvalishvili shared a video of the aftermath on Instagram as clips of the hotel lobby chaos spread rapidly online.
In his post, he is shown being treated following the brawl and is heard branding Nurmagomedov and his entourage “cowards” as he calls them out.
It was during an alleged attack by another pro-fighter(Image: x)
Dvalishvili wrote in the caption: “Was doing an interview for RAF in hotel lobby and Usman and his buddies came up from behind and started punching me and my young friend. Security was holding me — they kept kicking us when we were down like losers.”
Footage shared on X on Wednesday by Red Corner MMA shows a sizable group of men, with Usman Nurmagomedov at the front, confronting Dvalishvili in a hotel lobby before he is slapped and a fight breaks out.
Around a dozen men end up caught up in the chaotic melee, with swinging punches and heavy kicks traded before security is summoned, Toronto Sun reported. The video then exploded across social media, surging past 5.2 million views within hours.
Both fighters were subsequently detained by local authorities(Image: x)
“What a sneaky way, just two of us, me and my friend came here in Abu Dhabi, and Usman Nurmagomedov and his friends came like snakes from behind,” Dvalishvili said in his Instagram video. “What kind of fighters you guys are? What kind of man does this? If you want to talk and fight, let’s do it the real way.
“You guys came from f****** just because there’s two of us, and you guys were prepared. What the f***?”
Dvalishvili also claimed Umar was at the scene but did not take part in the brawl. Bad blood between Merab Dvalishvili and the Nurmagomedov camp dates back to UFC 311 in January 2025.
Merab Dvalishvili (Image: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
In the build-up, Dvalishvili branded Umar Nurmagomedov “spoiled” before beating him by unanimous decision to retain the UFC bantamweight title. Tensions then flared again in July of this year at an RAF event in Georgia, where Dvalishvili reportedly slapped a Dagestani wrestler linked to the Nurmagomedov team.
After Wednesday’s hotel lobby brawl, UFC champion Islam Makhachev backed Usman on social media, claiming Dvalishvili sparked the feud by striking a guest on their home turf.
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