Sean Strickland Calls for Lifetime Ban After Nurmagomedov Attack on Merab Dvalishvili

The fallout from the Usman Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili hotel altercation is getting louder. UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland led the charge of fighters condemning the attack, calling for a lifetime ban for everyone involved.

Dvalishvili, who is scheduled to face Marlon Moraes at RAF Abu Dhabi on November 14, was doing an interview in a hotel lobby when he was hit with what LowKick MMA described as a come-from-behind attack by Nurmagomedov and his associates. Footage showed Dvalishvili left bloodied from the encounter.

Dvalishvili posted an Instagram video saying that Usman and his friends "came up from behind and started punching me and my young friend" and that security was holding him while the attackers "kept kicking us when we were down like losers."

Strickland did not hold back. He called for a "lifetime ban for everyone involved" and took to X to write, "Usman Nurmagomedov is the definition of a b*tch. These guys all run around pretending to be hard but they all act like f*cking dogs waiting to attack you when you're not looking."

Paulo Costa also weighed in under Dvalishvili's Instagram post, writing, "I've seen this movie before. These guys never show up alone."

The incident adds another chapter to the long-running rivalry between Georgian and Dagestani fighters in MMA. Dvalishvili is the former UFC bantamweight champion. Nurmagomedov competes under the PFL banner. No official disciplinary action has been announced.