Viral video captures hotel brawl between MMA stars Dvalishvili, Nurmagomedov

• Brett OkamotoNov 11, 2026, 05:46 PM ET

  Close

  Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.

Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov were involved in a physical altercation Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, with video of the incident widely circulated on social media.

Dvalishvili, who is in Abu Dhabi ahead of Saturday's Real American Freestyle event, posted a video of his bloodied face after the scuffle. Multiple videos of the incident showed Nurmagomedov, whose older brother, Umar, lost a bantamweight title fight to Dvalishvili in 2025, approach Dvalishvili from behind and slap him in the face.

Former UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, who is friends with Dvalishvili, shared video of the encounter online. Following the initial slap, Dvalishvili attempts to go after Nurmagomedov. A chaotic scene quickly unfolded, involving multiple members from the camps of both fighters. In his video afterward, Dvalishvili refers to Nurmagomedov and his camp as "snakes."

"What a sneaky way, guys," Dvalishvili says. "What kind of fighters you guys are? What kind of man does this? If you want to try, let's do it the real way."

Wednesday's confrontation marks the latest in a long-running feud between Dvalishvili and the Nurmagomedov team. Before his win over Umar in January 2025, Dvalishvili referred to Umar as "spoiled" and accused the Dagestani of being disrespectful. The two camps were involved in a brief altercation in July at another RAF event in Georgia.

Both Merab and Umar are scheduled to compete at RAF on Saturday. Dvalishvili faces former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes, while Nurmagomedov will wrestle former UFC champion Urijah Faber.

Usman Nurmagomedov is currently in a state of restricted free agency, with much speculation whether he will leave the PFL to fight in the UFC in 2027.