Dvalishvili Claims Nurmagomedov Ambush Ahead of RAF Abu Dhabi
Merab Dvalishvili says he was jumped in a hotel lobby in Abu Dhabi, days before he is due to wrestle Marlon Moraes at RAF Abu Dhabi. He points at Usman Nurmagomedov as the man who led it, and neither Usman nor his brother Umar has answered yet.
What Dvalishvili says happened
The claim comes from a video Dvalishvili posted to social media. He says he and a young friend were doing an interview for RAF in the lobby when Usman and his buddies came from behind and began punching them. In his telling, about 20 guys ended up involved, and both men were left bloodied.
He adds that security was holding him while the group went on kicking. In the caption he wrote, “Security was holding me - They kept kicking us when we were down like losers.”
In the clip itself he calls the approach sneaky and stresses that only two of them had travelled to Abu Dhabi. He says Umar Nurmagomedov was part of it too. His challenge is blunt: “If you want to fight, fight.” He also says he is fine and that none of this is a big deal for him.
A feud with a long record
The two camps have history. Dvalishvili and Umar were booked to meet at UFC 311 in January 2025. The build-up was bitter, and Dvalishvili took a unanimous decision to stay UFC bantamweight champion.
The tension came back in recent months. A scuffle with a man linked to Umar came before UFC Georgia, and insults flew between the two fighters in interviews and posts after it. Now the name in the lobby claim is Usman, Umar's younger brother. He is a former PFL champion and is currently a free agent.
Video and the fight itself
Ilia Topuria, a friend of Dvalishvili and a fellow former UFC champion, has since shared video of the altercation. It allegedly involved the Nurmagomedovs. What it shows beyond that has not been described.
The Moraes fight has not changed: it is still scheduled for Saturday. No one has said whether the quarrel with the Nurmagomedovs will spill into fight week or only surface later.
Source: MMA Fighting