ABU DHABI (The Thursday Times) — An Abu Dhabi court has sentenced eight people to six months in prison over Wednesday’s brawl at a Yas Island hotel involving the former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and the PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, the emirate’s judicial department said on Friday.
The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court convicted 10 people in all. Six were jailed for six months, fined Dh300,000 each, and ordered to be deported after serving their sentences, for disturbing public security, causing panic, and endangering lives, the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department said.
Two people who filmed the fight and published the footage were also sentenced to six months, for violating privacy through the use of information technology. The court ordered their phones confiscated and the footage deleted.
Two others were fined Dh50,000 each for disturbing public security and assaulting others, with no prison term.
The department did not name any of those convicted. Several reports said the six men who were jailed were members of Nurmagomedov’s camp, and that Nurmagomedov himself was among them. Reports also said Dvalishvili and a friend were the two who were fined, and that both had been released from detention.
Police had arrested 10 people after the fight in the hotel lobby, where Dvalishvili was giving an interview when Nurmagomedov and several others approached him. Footage of the brawl spread widely online, and the organisers of Saturday’s event barred Nurmagomedov from attending.
Saturday’s card goes ahead
Dvalishvili is still due to face the Brazilian former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes in a crossover match at Real American Freestyle’s first event in the Middle East, at Etihad Arena on Saturday.
Chad Bronstein, the organisation’s chief executive and co-founder, said Dvalishvili was “back with us in Abu Dhabi”, thanked the local authorities, and said the organisation was “focused on moving forward”.
Umar Nurmagomedov, who had been due to face Urijah Faber on the same card, has been replaced by Saba Lazishvili, a 21-year-old Georgian friend of Dvalishvili who was also caught up in the brawl, according to reports.
The UFC’s chief executive, Dana White, condemned the brawl at a news conference in New York on Thursday. “It’s absolutely ridiculous and stupid, and they’re all in jail,” he said.
Dvalishvili beat Umar Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision at UFC 311 in January 2025 to keep his bantamweight title, and the two camps clashed again at an RAF event in Georgia in July.
