Dana White criticizes Team Khabib after Usman Nurmagomedov hotel attack leaves 8 jailed in Abu Dhabi

UFC CEO Dana White denounced the attack on Merab Dvalishvili and took aim at the team of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov following Wednesday’s brutal attack in Abu Dhabi that left eight individuals jailed in the Middle Eastern country for the next six months.Tensions between Team Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili hit a boiling point Wednesday when shocking footage emerged of Usman Nurmagomedov jumping Dvalishvili and another individual, Saba Lazishvili, in a vicious group attack in a hotel lobby in Abu Dhabi prior to Saturday's RAF event. The attack left Dvalishvili badly bloodied and resulted in prison sentences, fines, and eventual deportations for Nurmagomedov and seven others.Umar Nurmagomedov, the younger brother of Usman, has publicly feuded with Dvalishvili since the two collided in a heated grudge match at UFC 311 in January 2025, which Dvalishvili won via unanimous decision to defend his UFC bantamweight title.Speaking to former UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve on UFC op Eurosport, White pointed out that outside-of-the-cage brawls seem to follow the Nurmagomedovs — a team which is lead, in part, by retired former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov:“Anywhere the whole Khabib [Nurmagomedov] crew shows up, there’s usually some fights going on, or Khamzat [Chimaev] and all these guys. And the RAF, I mean, there’s literally a fist-fight at every single one of these things.”“The RAF guys, you’d think they would learn after a couple of these and figure out how to stop this from happening. And people always ask me, ‘Oh, isn’t this good for you?’ No, it’s never good.”“[I] don’t like it, and obviously it’s super dangerous. And to do it in a place like the Middle East? And what if any of you get seriously injured?”White previously called Usman Nurmagomedov and everyone involved in the attack on Dvalishvili “a bunch of f***ing idiots” at UFC 334’s pre-fight press conference on Thursday.“It’s absolutely ridiculous and stupid and they’re all in jail,” White said. “That is not a place to go f*** around.”Usman Nurmagomedov’s actions have drawn swift condemnation from around the MMA world, however UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev — the No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the sport and a fellow member of Team Khabib — defended the attack in a Wednesday post on social media, stating that "whatever happened today, was started by Merab," and questioning why critics were "silent when Merab slapped the Dagestani fighter and insulted his honor?"Dvalishvili infamously slapped a friend and training partner of the Nurmagomedov clan, Ahmed Gadzhimagomedov, in a backstage altercation prior to the RAF Georgia event in Tbilisi, Georgia this past July. Gadzhimagomedov allegedly approached Dvalishvili after the event's pre-match press conference, grabbed him and aggressively asked in Russian what the former UFC bantamweight champion's problem was with Umar Nurmagomedov.Usman Nurmagomedov is the reigning PFL lightweight champion and, until Wednesday’s attack, was considered to be one of the top free agents available on MMA’s open market. The UFC had been heavily linked to potentially signing him prior to the attack, however any talks will now have to be shelved until the end of his Abu Dhabi prison sentence.In total, Usman Nurmagomedov was one of eight defendants to receive a six-month sentence, a fine of 300,000 UAE Dirhams (approximately $81,688) and deportation from the country following their stays in behind bars.Dvalishvili and Lazishvili have been fined 50,000 UAE Dirhams (approximately $13,600) each but did not receive jail time.