Updated

Merab Dvalishvili and PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov were involved in a mass brawl at a hotel in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, which led to 10 arrests. A video appeared to show Nurmagomedov slap Dvalishvili after approaching him from behind, after which fighting broke out between the two men and members of their teams in the hotel lobby. Abu Dhabi police said they arrested eight people involved in the fight, which followed previous disputes between them, and two people who filmed it. Dvalishvili, 35, is due to compete against Brazilian Marlon Moraes at the Real American Freestyle event in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, and Nurmagomedov's older brother Umar is also due to fight there. Dvalishvili later called Nurmagomedov and his team "snakes" in a TikTok video shot as he was treated for a bloodied face. UFC champion Islam Makhachev, a close friend of the Nurmagomedovs, linked the incident to an earlier altercation between the camps at the July RAF event, while Ilia Topuria, a friend of Dvalishvili, condemned Nurmagomedov on X. Nurmagomedov is a free agent after leaving the PFL and has been heavily linked with a move to the UFC.