Abu Dhabi court convicts 10 over the hotel brawl involving the Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili teams: eight jailed for six months, two fined
An Abu Dhabi court has convicted all 10 defendants over Wednesday's hotel brawl involving MMA fighters Usman Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili and their teams, the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department said. Six were jailed for six months, fined 300,000 dirhams each and ordered deported, two more were jailed for filming and publishing the brawl, and two were fined 50,000 dirhams each. The court did not publicly name the defendants; media reports say Nurmagomedov is among those jailed and Dvalishvili among those fined and released.
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Key points
- All 10 defendants over Wednesday's Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island brawl were convicted on Friday.
- Eight were jailed for six months — six over the brawl itself, two for filming and publishing it — and two were fined only.
- The court did not name the defendants: reports that Nurmagomedov was jailed and Dvalishvili fined rest on media reporting, not the court's announcement.
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- The brawl came ahead of a Real American Freestyle event where Umar Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili were due to wrestle other opponents.
What happened
The fight broke out on Wednesday at the Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island, where fighters and their teams were staying ahead of Saturday's Real American Freestyle event. Usman Nurmagomedov's brother Umar and Merab Dvalishvili were scheduled for matches against different opponents at the event.
The case moved fast: police announced arrests on Thursday, and the court's convictions and sentences followed on Friday, two days after the brawl.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- All 10 defendants were convicted; eight were jailed for six months and two were fined, on the Judicial Department's announcement.
- The brawl happened at the fighters' hotel ahead of Saturday's RAF event.
What we don't know yet
- The court's own naming of the defendants — it has published none, so who exactly was jailed is not officially settled.
- Whether any of the convicted will appeal, and whether Nurmagomedov's representatives comment — Reuters had sought comment.
Claim by claim
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Why this label: The convictions are the Judicial Department's own announcement, reported by Reuters and BBC Sport.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The sentence breakdown is the Judicial Department's statement as reported by The National and BBC Sport and carried by Reuters.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: No official list of names has been published; that is why the next claim is labelled as reporting, not as a court finding.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Reuters carries the naming only as media reports, and ESPN's account attributes the team identifications to The National; the court itself named no one, so the naming is not carried as verified.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: The arrests are the police's own statement and the attendance bar is the promotion's own decision, both as reported.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
Six-month jail terms and deportation orders for fighters' entourages are an unusually hard response to a pre-event brawl, and they land on one of MMA's best-known camps. Until the court names the defendants, exactly who is in jail rests on reporting — and that distinction matters for the fighters' careers.
Background
A mass brawl breaks out at the Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island involving the Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili teams.
Abu Dhabi Police announce arrests over the hotel-entrance fight.
The court convicts all 10 defendants: eight jailed for six months, two fined.
Update history
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Published in Checking state — the convictions and sentences are the court's announcement; who exactly was jailed is not officially named and is labelled as reporting.