Merab Dvalishvili was jumped by Usman Nurmagomedov to spark a brawl in an Abu Dhabi hotel, leaving the former UFC champion bloodied and bruised.
Dvalishvili was filming an interview when PFL lightweight champion Nurmagomedov, the cousin of legendary former UFC fighter Khabib, walked up to the bantamweight from behind before slapping him.
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 broke out in the hotel lobby.
Dvalishvili took to social media after the altercation to brand Russia’s Nurmagomedov and his team “snakes”, posting a video of himself receiving treatment for his injuries.
He said: “What a sneaky way guys. Just two of us, me and my friend, came here in Abu Dhabi and Usman and his friends came like snakes from behind.
“What kind of fighters are you guys? What kind of man does this? If you want to fight, let's do it the real way.
“You guys came when there was two of us, you were prepared. What the f***?”
Dvalishvili, 35, is due to wrestle at a Real American Freestyle (RAF) event in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, taking on Brazilian Marlon Moraes.
He previously fought and beat Nurmagomedov’s older brother, Umar, to retain the UFC bantamweight title in an enthralling fight in 2025, with Dvalishvili branding his opponent “spoiled” in the build-up.
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.
He wrote: "Usman has reportedly been detained, along with the cowards who were with him.
"What a disgrace. A bunch of absolute cowards. I always thought you were a bunch of mediocre individuals. Now you've removed every last doubt.
"Honour, respect, and humility aren't words you preach. They're values you live by. And you've shown none of them."
Middleweight champion Sean Strickland commented on Dvalishvili’s Instagram post calling for a “lifetime ban” for everyone involved, while Irish lightweight Paul Hughes - who took Nurmagomedov to his limit across two PFL title fights - lambasted his former rival and called his team out for similar behaviour in the past.
“Utterly disgusting,” Hughes wrote. “The same people assaulted my supporters in Dubai for no reason.
“How can this team ever speak about humility and respect. And yet there will be no repercussions.”
UFC lightweight champion and pound-for-pound kingpin Islam Makhachev, however, issued a rebuttal in defence of Nurmagomedov and suggested that a previous altercation between the two camps, before an RAF event in July, sparked Wednesday’s melee.
"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.
"Merab started what happened today in his homeland by allowing himself to hit a guest and insulting his mother."
Nurmagomedov, 28, is being heavily linked with a move to the UFC after entering free agency following his final PFL fight in the summer.
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