Ali Abdelaziz calls Usman Nurmagomedov's Merab brawl 'unacceptable', apologises to Abu Dhabi
The manager told MMA Junkie that "both parties was wrong" and that he is more worried about Nurmagomedov's well-being than his fighting career.
Ali Abdelaziz has apologised to the city of Abu Dhabi for Usman Nurmagomedov's brawl with Merab Dvalishvili, calling it "something unacceptable" and saying he hopes "this young man will get a good lesson".
"On behalf of myself and my team, I want to apologize to the whole city of Abu Dhabi about what occurred the other day," the MMA manager told MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn.
Abdelaziz praised Abu Dhabi's leadership for having "opened the door for the whole entire world, especially the UFC" during the Covid shutdown in 2020, then added: "I'm truly sorry, and it's embarrassing what happened. And I hope this young man will get a good lesson. This is something should not happen again." Later in his opening statement he said: "And what happened was something unacceptable. And this is something should never happen again."
Nurmagomedov slapped Dvalishvili while the former UFC bantamweight champion was giving an interview, and members of his team, including his brother Umar Nurmagomedov, joined in before the fighters were pulled apart.
Abdelaziz would not put the blame on one side. "I think both parties was wrong, and I think two wrong doesn't make it right," he said. He said Dvalishvili had been there a couple of weeks earlier and had even trained at Khabib Nurmagomedov's gym.
He said the row was about Usman's brother Umar. "It was something with his brother and he tried to defend his brother. There's no excuse, you understand?" Abdelaziz said.
Asked about Nurmagomedov's future, he said the fallout "is gonna affect everybody. Affect Khabib, affect him, affect everybody", but added: "I'm not worried about his fighting career right now. I'm worried about his well-being, how he's gonna recover from this."
Of Khabib Nurmagomedov, he said: "Of course he's not happy, you know, because this is their home." Abdelaziz also said RAF, which he said had signed a five-year deal with Abu Dhabi, did not deserve what happened.
Dvalishvili was due to face Marlon Moraes at RAF Abu Dhabi, and Daniel Cormier has said Nurmagomedov faces "real big trouble" over the brawl. Islam Makhachev has defended Nurmagomedov, his training partner, against the criticism.
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About this report
Reported by the Combat Sports UK desk. Times are UK and Irish time, and we update the report when the facts change. How we work.