Did Merab Dvalishvili Cross the Line First? Revisiting His RAF Georgia Altercation After Usman Brawl
Usman Nurmagomedov is in the MMA spotlight after his altercation with Merab Dvalishvili, but was it the Georgian's karma catching up?
The MMA world is still buzzing after chaotic footage surfaced Wednesday showing Usman Nurmagomedov and his entourage confronting Merab Dvalishvili in an Abu Dhabi hotel lobby ahead of Saturday’s Real American Freestyle event. Video of the melee shows Nurmagomedov walking up and slapping the former UFC Bantamweight Champion before a brawl erupts, leaving Dvalishvili bloodied with a cut on his head.
While much of the online backlash has targeted Nurmagomedov for initiating a lopsided hotel ambush, the broader timeline paints a messier picture. Does that excuse jumping someone in a lobby? No. Yet Dvalishvili is not completely innocent in this situation. Fans seem to forget that the Georgian dished out the same treatment to Umar Nurmagomedov’s friend not long ago, and the only difference is it did not escalate to such a level because no one was bleeding.
History Repeats Itself
The bad blood between Dvalishvili (21-6) and the Dagestani camp has simmered since Dvalishvili defeated Umar Nurmagomedov (20-2) by unanimous decision at UFC 311 in January 2025. Following Dvalishvili’s recent UFC 333 title loss to Petr Yan last month, tensions boiled over again, though the first physical spark actually happened months earlier at an RAF event in Georgia.
Back in August, a friend and associate of Umar Nurmagomedov approached Dvalishvili at the Georgia event to confront him over his ongoing feud with Umar. When the man attempted to touch him, Dvalishvili responded by slapping him across the face, sparking a tense physical altercation that drew sharp criticism from Umar at the time.
Because nobody left that Georgia scuffle needing stitches, the incident quickly faded from the news cycle. Fast-forward to Abu Dhabi, and the exact same disrespect came back around with far uglier consequences. When fighters normalize putting hands on people outside the cage, whether at a wrestling event in Tbilisi or a hotel lobby in the Middle East, retaliation is rarely far behind.
