Ali Abdelaziz condemns Usman Nurmagomedov's 'unacceptable' Abu Dhabi brawl - MMA Junkie

NEW YORK – Ali Abdelaziz says there's no justification for Usman Nurmagomedov's decision to jump Merab Dvalishvili and incite a brawl in Abu Dhabi.

Nurmagomedov was among those arrested by Abu Dhabi police after he attacked former UFC bantamweight champion Dvalishvili in a hotel lobby ahead of a Real American Freestyle event.

Usman's brother Umar was scheduled to face Urijah Faber on the card, which is why Usman was at the same hotel as Dvalishvili. Umar has been locked in a years-long feud with Dvalishvili prior to and after their UFC 311 title fight in January 2025, and the altercation marked a true tipping point.

Abdelaziz condemned his client's behavior and said it's a situation that should bring shame to all involved.

"I'm truly sorry," Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie on Thursday. "It's embarrassing what happened. I hope these young men will get a good lesson. This is something that should not happen again. All of our guys have to set a good example. ... I haven't slept for a couple days trying to make it better. I don't think there's any words I can say to make this better. To the people of Abu Dhabi, to the leadership, this is something that will never happen again.

"We should do better as Muslims, as human beings, as athletes. ... What happened was something unacceptable and should never happen again."

There's much online discourse about how and why the attack ultimately happened. Many will put blame on Usman, while others claim it was a reaction to some of Dvalishvili's past behavior with the Nurmagomedov team.

Abdelaziz dismissed any of that as relevant, and said no matter what Dvalishvili may or may not have done in the past, nothing warrants what unfolded on Wednesday.

"Two wrongs doesn't make a right," Abdelaziz said. "I'm not going to sit here and say he did that or he didn't do that. These guys are young, and there's no words I can describe to say he was wrong. I think both parties were wrong, and two wrongs don't make a right, and it's a good lesson for everyone.

"Merab was there a couple weeks ago. He was fine and trained at Khabib's gym. I think we have to do better as humans. We have to learn from this mistake. I'm not going to point fingers. It was extremely disrespectful to the people of Abu Dhabi, to the city of Abu Dhabi. We have to be better and conduct ourselves better. This situation could've been handled different but I understand these athletes are emotional. But there's no excuse. There's no excuse. There's nothing I can say to make the wrong situation better."

Abdelaziz said this saga has made him reflect on his own poor behavior and how he conducts himself. He is hopeful Usman will do the same, because he is certain there will be consequences in mutliple forms.

Usman is one of the top free agents in MMA after completing in his PFL contract in July, and there has been speculation about how this reflects on his character. It's not the first incident involving Usman, either, because he's also been criticized for jumping into the octagon after an Islam Makhachev title win, jumping into the octagon after his brother Umar was knocked out by Song Yadong, and a 2021 arrest for an incident in which a police officer allegedly was hit by a car.

Abdelaziz said navigating Usman's path forward as a fighter is not the top priority at the moment, but instead focusing on how to walk a better line as a man.

"About Usman's career: The guy is one of the best fighters in the world," Abdelaziz said. "Of course this is going to affect everybody. It's going to affect him, Khabib, everybody. But I'm not worried about his fighting career right now. I'm worried about his well-being and how he's going to recover from this."