A confrontation between former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov escalated into a mass brawl in an Abu Dhabi hotel lobby on Wednesday, according to footage circulating online.
The video appeared to show Nurmagomedov approaching Dvalishvili from behind before slapping him, triggering a wider fight involving members of both teams.
Dvalishvili, 35, later posted a TikTok video while receiving treatment for a bloodied face, calling Nurmagomedov, 28, and his team “snakes.”
“What a sneaky way, guys,” Dvalishvili said. “What kind of fighters are you guys? What kind of man does this? If you want to try, let’s do it the real way.”
The Georgian is scheduled to face Brazilian Marlon Moraes at the Real American Freestyle event in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday. Umar Nurmagomedov, Usman’s older brother, is set to meet American Urijah Faber on the same card. Dvalishvili had previously called Umar “spoiled” before defeating him in a bantamweight title fight in 2025.
The two camps had also been involved in an earlier altercation before a RAF event in July. UFC champion Islam Makhachev, a close friend and training partner of the Nurmagomedov brothers, suggested that incident helped spark Wednesday’s clash.
“Why were you silent when Merab hit a Dagestani wrestler for nothing and hurt his honor?” Makhachev wrote. “Merab started what happened today in his homeland by allowing himself to hit a guest and insulting his mother.”
Ilia Topuria, a two-weight UFC champion and friend of Dvalishvili, shared footage of the incident on X and claimed Usman Nurmagomedov had been detained along with those with him.
“What a disgrace. A bunch of absolute cowards,” Topuria wrote, adding that the group had shown no honor, respect or humility.
Usman Nurmagomedov is currently a free agent after his most recent PFL fight and has been strongly linked with a move to the UFC. MMA fighters frequently compete in RAF events alongside their careers in larger promotions, with Khamzat Chimaev, Arman Tsarukyan and Colby Covington among those who have recently appeared for the promotion.