UFC president Dana White shared his reaction to Usman Nurmagomedov and his team’s gang attack on Merab Dvalishvili and a friend.
On Wednesday, Dvalishvili shared a video of himself, bloodied in Abu Dhabi, ahead of his wrestling match against Marlon Moraes at this weekend’s RFA event. According to Dvalishvili, he and a friend were jumped by Nurmagomedov and several members of his team.
Not long after that, videos emerged of the incident, which clearly showed Nurmagomedov coming up to Dvalishvili, slapping him, and then gang-attacking him and his friend.
It was an awful incident for everyone involved, and eight people were reportedly arrested in Abu Dhabi by police officers after the shockingly violent incident.
Dana White Reacts to Ugly Incident
Speaking at the UFC 334 pre-fight press conference, White was asked to react to the brawl between Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous and stupid. They’re all in jail. That is not a place to go (expletive) around,” White said.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous and stupid. They’re all in jail. That is not a place to go f*ck around.”
Later on, New York street journalist Adam Glyn caught up with White and got his opinion on the matter.
“That stuff is never good for business. It makes everyone involved look bad. It’s unfortunate. Now they’re all in jail in Abu Dhabi. We’ll see how that goes,” White said.
Will the UFC Sign Usman Nurmagomedov?
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this entire incident is that Nurmagomedov is currently a free agent and is reportedly in contract discussions with the UFC, which makes sense, as he is one of the best lightweight MMA fighters in the world.
That being said, this is an absolutely terrible look for him, and, when combined with the incident with Song Yadong at UFC Shanghai in the summer, when he jumped into the cage after his brother Umar Nurmagomedov got knocked out, it’s clear that Usman Nurmagomedov does not believe that the rules apply to him.
Ultimately, the UFC is still very likely to sign Nurmagomedov to a contract and bring him into the organization. But it’s possible he could get paid less now that he has lost some leverage due to his gang attack incident.
Dana White Reacts to Usman Nurmagomedov Gang Attack