Ten arrests after Abu Dhabi brawl leave Saturday’s wrestling matches unresolved

The legal situation has become more concrete. Abu Dhabi Police announced ten arrests after the November 11 confrontation: eight people over involvement in the fight and two others for filming it. The suspects have been referred to Public Prosecution to complete legal procedures, according to Aletihad’s report of the police announcement. Police have not named those arrested or specified the offences attributed to individuals.⁠1⁠64

Real American Freestyle, the promotion staging the November 14 wrestling event at Etihad Arena, has also acted. Usman Nurmagomedov, whom footage appears to show slapping Dvalishvili before the melee, will not be allowed to attend. He was not booked to wrestle, so this is an attendance ban—not a cancelled bout, and not a decision removing his older brother Umar from the card.⁠1⁠61

In our November 12 report, we said police had not publicly addressed the incident and RAF had not commented. Both have now spoken. Our earlier description of questioning without formal arrest has been superseded by an official arrest announcement, although that announcement still does not establish any named fighter’s individual legal status.⁠1⁠60

Our earlier statement that nobody had been charged was too categorical. The accurate limit is that no publicly identified charge against an individual has been established in the available reporting. Nor could a Saturday booking establish Dvalishvili’s medical fitness or justify a prediction that the case would go nowhere.

The two filming arrests are a consequential part of that statement. They are not two additional alleged fighters. Police have not explained the specific offence, or whether the issue concerns recording, distributing footage or something else. Referral to prosecutors establishes another stage of the legal process; it does not establish guilt.⁠1⁠64

Earlier custody reports need to be read in sequence rather than treated as proof of release. Ariel Helwani initially described everyone, including Dvalishvili and his friend, being at a police station for questioning. USA Today subsequently relayed his late-Wednesday report of continued detention. UFC chief executive Dana White said at Thursday’s press conference that those involved were still in jail. Those accounts do not supply an official, named custody register or an announcement that anyone has since been released.⁠23⁠4⁠62

Dvalishvili, a 35-year-old Georgian former UFC bantamweight champion, was giving an interview when Usman Nurmagomedov approached with other men. The video appears to show the 28-year-old Russian fighter coming up from behind, confronting Dvalishvili and slapping him across the face before a melee breaks out. Reporting describes a hotel lobby; police place the fight at the entrance. Neither account supplies an exact time or a complete account of what preceded the confrontation.⁠1⁠4

Dvalishvili’s allegation extends beyond the opening camera angle. He says men punched him and his young friend, Saba Lazishvili, and continued kicking while security held him back. He named both Usman and Umar among the group. That remains an allegation about the wider attack, not something every part of the available footage independently establishes. Umar’s precise actions remain unverified.⁠27⁠3

Afterward, Dvalishvili appeared with a bloodied face while receiving treatment and called the other group “snakes.” He reassured friends and family that he was fine. The treatment footage establishes visible injury and treatment—not a diagnosis, a period of incapacity or clearance to wrestle.⁠1⁠27

The camps also offer sharply different explanations for their hostility. UFC champion Islam Makhachev, a friend and training partner of the Nurmagomedovs, accused Dvalishvili of hitting a Dagestani wrestler and insulting his mother during an earlier dispute. Fellow champion Ilia Topuria publicly condemned Usman’s group and supported Dvalishvili. Makhachev’s accusations are not a verified account of the hotel sequence; Topuria’s condemnation does not identify the people in the police announcement.⁠1

Dvalishvili beat Umar in a UFC bantamweight title fight in 2025, and the camps later clashed again. That history helps explain the animosity. It does not settle responsibility for everything that happened at the hotel, and no authenticated account from either brother explaining this incident has been established in the available reporting.⁠1⁠65

RAF co-founder and chief executive Chad Bronstein made the decision about Usman explicit on Thursday: “Obviously Usman will not be attending our event on Saturday night.” His comments about Dvalishvili were less conclusive. RAF was working with UAE authorities over his release, Bronstein said, describing him as doing well and expressing hope for a resolution—not announcing one.⁠60⁠61

Umar also missed the press conference. That absence alone establishes neither that he was in custody nor what he did during the fight. His scheduled match against Faber remains unresolved, as does Dvalishvili’s match against Moraes. RAF’s athlete page lists Dvalishvili’s booking, but an undated listing is not a post-brawl confirmation of availability.⁠60⁠70

The complaint question is also unsettled. Earlier reporting that Dvalishvili was not pressing charges does not establish a formal complaint, a formal refusal to complain, a waiver or a settlement. Our previous discussion of assault penalties and settlement routes was general legal background, not a forecast for these individuals. Without a specified offence and a medical assessment, attaching a prison maximum to a named fighter would overstate what is known.⁠23⁠64

The next fixed date is Saturday, November 14, at Etihad Arena. Until release, fitness and match decisions are actually announced, Moraes and Faber have scheduled opponents—not a guarantee of opponents on the mat. The arrest announcement has settled whether police acted. It has not settled who can compete, who faces which accusation or how the case will end.⁠74⁠60⁠64