Merab Dvalishvili Freed From Detention and Set to Fight at RAF Abu Dhabi
Merab Dvalishvili was released from UAE detention and will face Marlon Moraes at RAF Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has been released from a UAE detention center after spending nearly 48 hours behind bars following Wednesday's hotel brawl with PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov and his entourage, per Ariel Helwani.
Dvalishvili and his friend Saba Lazishvili were freed on Thursday after RAF CEO and co-founder Chad Bronstein worked with local authorities to secure their release. Bronstein was reportedly at the detention center when they walked out. RAF has agreed to cover both men's 50,000 dirham fines, per LowKick MMA.
Despite the ordeal and injuries sustained in Wednesday's melee, Dvalishvili is set to compete at RAF Abu Dhabi on Saturday against former UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes. Home of Fight confirmed the bout is still on.
Dvalishvili takes the spot vacated by Umar Nurmagomedov, who was pulled from the card after his brother Usman and five members of their team were sentenced to six months in prison and ordered deported for instigating the attack. The RAF Abu Dhabi event takes place at Etihad Arena on Saturday and airs on FOX Nation.
It has been a turbulent 72 hours for the former UFC champion. He went from giving interviews at a hotel lobby to getting ambushed, spending two nights in a foreign detention center, and then stepping right back onto the competition mat. Lazishvili, who was also involved in the brawl, was freed alongside Dvalishvili and earned praise on social media for holding his own while heavily outnumbered during the attack.
I cannot think of another fighter in any combat sport who went through what Merab just went through and still showed up to compete two days later. Ambushed in a hotel. Detained for 48 hours in a foreign country. Fined. And now he is going to wrestle on Saturday like nothing happened.
That is Merab Dvalishvili in a nutshell. The man is built different. Credit to Chad Bronstein and the RAF team for not letting this thing fall apart. They got Merab out, covered his fine, and kept the card together. Smart business.
I am curious to see what kind of shape Merab is in after taking shots in that hotel and spending two nights in detention. But if anybody can gut through it, it is the guy who used to fight five rounds in the UFC on pure cardio and stubbornness.
