Abu Dhabi Police Arrest Eight After the Hotel Brawl as Real American Freestyle Bars Usman Nurmagomedov From Saturday's Card

Authorities in Abu Dhabi have moved quickly after this week's hotel brawl involving UFC bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili, and the wrestling promotion that brought him to the city has drawn a clear line of its own.

Abu Dhabi Police said they arrested eight people involved in a fight at a hotel entrance that stemmed from an existing dispute between the parties, and also arrested two people who filmed it. All were referred to prosecutors, and police said they would act firmly against behavior that endangers public safety. Athlon Sports put the total at 10 arrests, a figure that lines up with the eight participants and two bystanders police described. Police have not publicly named anyone who was arrested.

Video that surfaced Wednesday appears to show Usman Nurmagomedov and others confronting Dvalishvili during a promotional interview at a hotel in Abu Dhabi; MMA Sucka identified it as the Yas Hilton. Uncrowned reported that Usman could be seen slapping Dvalishvili at the start of the melee and that several people were left visibly bruised and bloodied. Dvalishvili needed medical treatment for a cut to his face.

He later posted photos of his injuries and said he and a 21-year-old friend had been blindsided. He also claimed that Umar Nurmagomedov took part, though reports have not confirmed that.

The bad blood goes back nearly two years. Dvalishvili beat Umar Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision at UFC 311 in January 2025 to keep his bantamweight title, and the two camps have traded words ever since. Dvalishvili also confronted a member of the Nurmagomedov team at an RAF event in Georgia in July. Uncrowned described this week's clash as the most consequential chapter yet.

Real American Freestyle, the wrestling league staging Saturday's card, did not wait for the courts. Co-founder Chad Bronstein said at Thursday's press conference that he did not yet know the status of the affected matches, but he left no doubt about one thing. "And obviously, Usman will not be attending our event on Saturday night," he said. Bronstein added that the promotion hoped the situation would be resolved soon. Neither Dvalishvili nor Umar Nurmagomedov appeared at the press conference.

Dvalishvili is scheduled to wrestle former WSOF bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes on the RAF Abu Dhabi card, while Umar Nurmagomedov is booked against UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber. It would be Dvalishvili's fourth RAF appearance. He comes to Abu Dhabi after losing his trilogy fight with Petr Yan at UFC 333 last month.

Reports on his status conflict. A friend said in an Instagram video that police took Dvalishvili straight from the hospital to a police station for questioning and were holding him without his phone. "They're holding him there," the friend said. MMA Sucka also cited reporter Ariel Helwani as saying that everyone involved, including Dvalishvili, was at the station to be questioned. BoxingNews.com reported that he remained in custody ahead of the match, while Athlon Sports cautioned that nothing about his status should be considered changed until the promotion confirms it.

No formal charges had been announced as of Thursday. BoxingNews.com reported that prosecutors would decide on charges in the coming days, and neither the UFC nor RAF had commented on what the arrests mean for Dvalishvili's match.

The fallout has spread across the sport. Islam Makhachev defended the Nurmagomedov family, while Ilia Topuria criticized those involved in sharp terms. The incident also lands at an awkward time for Usman Nurmagomedov, who Athlon reported recently turned down a $2 million offer from the PFL, fueling talk of a move to the UFC; there has been no official word that the brawl affects any negotiations.

Combat sports rest on a simple bargain. You settle it inside the lines, under the rules, with a referee and a commission watching. Whatever the courts in Abu Dhabi ultimately decide about who did what, a confrontation in a hotel lobby breaks that bargain, and it puts bystanders and the reputation of the sport at risk.

Credit goes to Abu Dhabi authorities for acting fast and to RAF for making its position plain. Thousands of kids step onto wrestling mats in school gyms every winter, and the men they look up to should be modeling discipline and respect. If Dvalishvili and Moraes do meet on Saturday, the hope here is that the only thing anyone remembers is what happened on the mat.