Russian MMA fighter Usman Nurmagomedov gets six months in a UAE prison over hotel brawl with former UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili

Russian mixed martial arts fighter Usman Nurmagomedov has been sentenced to six months in jail in the United Arab Emirates over a fight with Georgian fighter Merab Dvalishvili, a source told TASS.Several other members of Nurmagomedov’s team also received six-month sentences and large fines.The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department said a court had convicted 10 people in connection with the fight but did not release their names. Each received a six-month prison sentence and a fine of 300,000 dirhams (about 6.7 million rubles), with deportation to follow their prison term.A mass brawl involving Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili, a UFC champion from Georgia, broke out in a hotel lobby in Abu Dhabi on November 11. Nurmagomedov approached Dvalishvili while he was giving an interview and slapped him. MMA outlets reported that Nurmagomedov was retaliating because Dvalishvili had earlier slapped a friend of Usman’s brother, Umar Nurmagomedov. A video posted later shows Nurmagomedov approaching Dvalishvili from behind.The National reported that Dvalishvili and his friend were each fined 50,000 dirhams for “disturbing public security and assaulting others” but received no jail time.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.