Video shows Merab Dvalishvili attacked by Usman Nurmagomedov and others at RAF event in Abu Dhabi

Former UFC champion Ilia Topuria posted a video of the attack

Nov 11, 2026 at 12:39 pm ET • 2 min read

Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili is accusing Usman Nurmagomedov and others of assaulting him and his friend during an RAF media event in Abu Dhabi.

Ilia Topuria, the former two-division UFC champion, uploaded a video from the moment Dvalishvili was attacked.

"You're a bunch of cowards, and you'll be held accountable for what you've done," Topuria captioned the video. "You're anything but real men."

Dvalishvili posted a video on Wednesday while being attended to by medical professionals. Dvalishvili claimed that he and his friend, who were both visibly bloodied and bruised in the video, were jumped by Usman Nurmagomedov's team while promoting Real American Freestyle.

"What a sneaky way, guys. Just two of us, me and my friend, came here in Abu Dhabi, and Usman Nurmagomedov and his friends came like snakes from behind," Dvalishvili said in the video. "What kind of fighters you guys are? What kind of man does this, bro? If you want to fight, let's do it like the real way. You came just because there's the two of us? What the f---?

"We bleed, we fight, we war, but you guys are just sneaky guys. You're not real men. It shows you guys' character. It shows you're not real men. What the f---, guys? If you want to fight, fight. Let's f---ing fight, we are fighters, bro. I'm a real guy, I talk shit, but you guys came from behind, bro. I don't know how many guys you were. All your friends waiting for us in a sneaky way. Wow. I knew what kind of guys you are. I came here in Abu Dhabi and Usman, Umar and his friends came in a sneaky way, so many guys."

Dvalishvili elaborated on the incident in a written post on social media. Dvalishvili claimed that they were attacked from behind mid-interview, and that multiple people held them down while others struck them.

"[I] was doing an interview for RAF in hotel lobby and Usman and his buddies came up from behind and started punching me and my young friend," Dvalishvili wrote. "Security was holding me -- they kept kicking us when we were down like losers."

Dvalishvili insisted that he was fine, while lamenting his alleged attackers' cowardly methods.

"I'm fine, guys, all my friends and family, I'm fine," he said in the video. "I'm a f---ng fighter."

"We were fighting like real men and you guys was fighting like pussies. Pussies does this bro. We were down and you were kicking us? Pussy guys. Pussy. We are warriors, bro."

Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov have been tense since the lead-up to their January 2025 fight. Dvalishvili, the UFC bantamweight champion at the time, successfully defended the title via unanimous decision. 

Usman Nurmagomedov is a free agent who was recently signed to the Professional Fighters League and, before that, Bellator. He has been seen at recent UFC events.

The Nurmagomedov brothers are cousins and pupils of Khabib Nurmagomedov, the retired former UFC champion and UFC Hall of Famer. Khabib famously leaped into the crowd and attacked Dillon Danis moments after submitting Conor McGregor at UFC 229, inciting multi-man brawls inside and outside of the Octagon.