Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has accused Usman Nurmagomedov and members of his team of assaulting him and a friend during a Real American Freestyle media event in Abu Dhabi.
Video footage of the incident was posted by former two-division UFC champion Ilia Topuria, who captioned it: "You're a bunch of cowards, and you'll be held accountable for what you've done. You're anything but real men."
According to journalist Ariel Helwani, all parties involved, including Dvalishvili and his friend, were detained by local authorities as of Thursday morning.
Dvalishvili, speaking in a video while receiving medical attention, said he and his friend were attacked from behind while conducting an interview in a hotel lobby. He alleged that multiple individuals held them down while others struck them, and that security personnel also participated.
"We were fighting like real men and you guys was fighting like pussies," Dvalishvili said. "We were down and you were kicking us? Pussy guys. We are warriors, bro."
In a written social media post, Dvalishvili elaborated: "I 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."
The altercation follows tension between Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov dating back to their January 2025 title fight, which Dvalishvili won by unanimous decision. Usman Nurmagomedov, a cousin of former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, recently signed with the Professional Fighters League after competing in Bellator.
Khabib Nurmagomedov was previously involved in a post-fight brawl at UFC 229 when he attacked Dillon Danis after submitting Conor McGregor.
