Usman Nurmagomedov will spend the next six months in an Abu Dhabi prison. On Friday, a court in the emirate sentenced the undefeated PFL lightweight champion and five of his teammates to six months behind bars, fined each of them 300,000 dirhams — about $81,700 — and ordered them deported from the United Arab Emirates once their sentences are served.
The sentences landed just two days after a hotel-lobby confrontation turned into one of the most-watched fight videos of the year. The brawl, filmed on Wednesday inside a hotel on Yas Island, spread across social media within hours — and the fallout moved just as fast.
Ten People Convicted In Two Days
The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department announced the verdicts on Friday, posting that an Abu Dhabi court had convicted 10 defendants over the hotel brawl. Six members of Team Nurmagomedov were jailed for “disturbing public security, causing panic and endangering lives,” according to the department’s statement.
Two more people received the same punishment — six months in prison, a 300,000-dirham fine and deportation — for a different reason: “violating privacy by using information technology to film and publish footage of the brawl.” The court also confiscated their phones and ordered the footage deleted.
Dvalishvili and his friend Saba Lazishvili were on the other side of the verdict. Both were fined 50,000 dirhams each — about $13,600 — for “disturbing public security and assaulting others,” but neither received a prison sentence. Both were released from custody on Friday morning. Police had arrested 10 people on Thursday: eight participants in the brawl and the two who filmed it.
What Happened On Wednesday
Dvalishvili, the former UFC bantamweight champion, was giving an interview for Real American Freestyle inside the Yas Hilton hotel on Wednesday when Nurmagomedov approached him from behind with a group of teammates. Video of the incident shows Nurmagomedov tapping Dvalishvili on the shoulder, then slapping him in the face — and a full brawl breaking out seconds later.
Dvalishvili and Lazishvili were badly outnumbered, and Dvalishvili was left bloodied, with a cut on his head. He later posted video of himself getting the cut treated. The footage exploded online after former two-weight UFC champion Ilia Topuria, a close friend of Dvalishvili’s, shared it — and within a day it was one of the biggest fight stories on the internet.
A Rivalry That Started Long Before Wednesday
The attack was reportedly payback for an incident months earlier. Nurmagomedov is said to have acted in retaliation after Dvalishvili got into a backstage tussle with Ahmed Gadzhimagomedov, a friend of Nurmagomedov’s older brother Umar, at an RAF event in Georgia in August.
The bad blood between Dvalishvili and Umar runs deeper than that. Dvalishvili beat Umar in a bantamweight title fight at UFC 311 in January 2025, and the two camps have traded shots ever since. Dvalishvili had only just closed out another long rivalry last month, beating Petr Yan at UFC 333.
Dvalishvili Still Fights On Saturday
Remarkably, Dvalishvili’s weekend is not over. Real American Freestyle confirmed on Friday that he remains available for his scheduled wrestling match against Marlon Moraes at RAF Abu Dhabi on Saturday — and that Lazishvili will step in to replace Umar on the card.
“I’m pleased to share that Merab Dvalishvili is back with us in Abu Dhabi. We remain focused on moving forward and are pleased to have Merab back with us.” — Chad Bronstein, RAF CEO and co-founder
A Career On Hold — And A UFC Deal In Doubt
For Nurmagomedov, 28, the sentence could not have come at a worse moment. He is 22-0, widely regarded as one of the best lightweights in the world, and a free agent after finishing his PFL contract. He turned down a $2 million offer to re-sign with the PFL in August, the promotion’s 90-day exclusive negotiating window has expired, and he was widely expected to sign with the UFC next. In his last fight he defended the PFL lightweight title by knocking out Archie Colgan in New York.
His manager, Ali Abdelaziz, apologised to Abu Dhabi on his behalf this week and did not try to defend what happened.
“What happened was something unacceptable and should never happen again. I think both parties were wrong, and two wrongs don’t make it right.” — Ali Abdelaziz
UFC CEO Dana White was blunter. Asked about signing Nurmagomedov at the UFC 334 press conference on Thursday, White said the fighter is still under contract with the PFL and “we’re not talking to him right now anyway,” calling the group a bunch of idiots and warning that Abu Dhabi “is not a place to mess around.”
The speed of it all is part of the story. A viral video on Wednesday, arrests on Thursday, prison sentences on Friday — and even the people who filmed the fight are going to jail. For Nurmagomedov, the next fight date is now, at the earliest, next summer: six months in prison, then deportation. For Dvalishvili, the weekend goes on as planned — back in the spotlight on Saturday night, this time on the mat.
