UFC CEO Dana White denounced the assault on Merab Dvalishvili and took intention on the workforce of UFC Corridor of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov following Wednesday’s brutal assault in Abu Dhabi that left eight people jailed within the Center Japanese nation for the subsequent six months.
Tensions between Workforce Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili hit a boiling level Wednesday when surprising footage emerged of Usman Nurmagomedov leaping Dvalishvili and one other particular person, Saba Lazishvili, in a vicious group assault in a resort foyer in Abu Dhabi previous to Saturday’s RAF occasion. The assault left Dvalishvili badly bloodied and resulted in jail sentences, fines, and eventual deportations for Nurmagomedov and 7 others.
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Umar Nurmagomedov, the youthful brother of Usman, has publicly feuded with Dvalishvili for the reason that two collided in a heated grudge match at UFC 311 in January 2025, which Dvalishvili gained by way of unanimous determination to defend his UFC bantamweight title.
Talking to former UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve on UFC op Eurosport, White identified that outside-of-the-cage brawls appear to comply with the Nurmagomedovs — a workforce which is lead, partially, by retired former UFC light-weight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov:
“Wherever the entire Khabib [Nurmagomedov] crew reveals up, there’s often some fights occurring, or Khamzat [Chimaev] and all these guys. And the RAF, I imply, there’s actually a fist-fight at each single one among this stuff.”
“The RAF guys, you’d suppose they’d be taught after a few these and work out cease this from occurring. And other people all the time ask me, ‘Oh, is not this good for you?’ No, it is by no means good.”
“[I] do not prefer it, and clearly it is tremendous harmful. And to do it in a spot just like the Center East? And what if any of you get significantly injured?”
White beforehand known as Usman Nurmagomedov and everybody concerned within the assault on Dvalishvili “a bunch of f***ing idiots” at UFC 334’s pre-fight press convention on Thursday.
“It is completely ridiculous and silly they usually’re all in jail,” White mentioned. “That’s not a spot to go f*** round.”
Usman Nurmagomedov’s actions have drawn swift condemnation from across the MMA world, nonetheless UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev — the No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter within the sport and a fellow member of Workforce Khabib — defended the assault in a Wednesday submit on social media, stating that “no matter occurred right this moment, was began by Merab,” and questioning why critics have been “silent when Merab slapped the Dagestani fighter and insulted his honor?”
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Dvalishvili infamously slapped a pal and coaching associate of the Nurmagomedov clan, Ahmed Gadzhimagomedov, in a backstage altercation previous to the RAF Georgia occasion in Tbilisi, Georgia this previous July. Gadzhimagomedov allegedly approached Dvalishvili after the occasion’s pre-match press convention, grabbed him and aggressively requested in Russian what the previous UFC bantamweight champion’s downside was with Umar Nurmagomedov.
Usman Nurmagomedov is the reigning PFL light-weight champion and, till Wednesday’s assault, was thought-about to be one of many high free brokers obtainable on MMA’s open market. The UFC had been closely linked to doubtlessly signing him previous to the assault, nonetheless any talks will now must be shelved till the top of his Abu Dhabi jail sentence.
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In complete, Usman Nurmagomedov was one among eight defendants to obtain a six-month sentence, a advantageous of 300,000 UAE Dirhams (roughly $81,688) and deportation from the nation following their stays in behind bars.
Dvalishvili and Lazishvili have been fined 50,000 UAE Dirhams (roughly $13,600) every however didn’t obtain jail time.