Islam Makhachev defends Usman Nurmagomedov, condemns Merab Dvalishvili’s past behavior

Islam Makhchev defends Usman Nurmagomedov after his attack on Merab Dvalishvili (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Islam Makhachev has Usman Nurmagomedov’s back after video surfaced on Wednesday that showed him attacking Merab Dvalishvili at the RAF event happening in Abu Dhabi.The bad blood between the Nurmagomedov family and Dvalishvili has been well documented but Usman’s attack has been heavily criticized after multiple videos surfaced from the altercation. In the video, Usman is seen approaching Dvalishvili during an interview and then almost immediately slapping him, which sets off a chaotic scene between the fighters and their friends.Makhachev, who obviously counts Nurmagomedov as one of his main training partners, took to Instagram to release a statement with his take on the incident.“To those who are now condemning Usman and the guys, [and] they are writing insults to them, why were you silent when Merab hit a Dagestani wrestler for nothing and hurt his honor?” Makhachev wrote. “The man approached him to talk without malice.“Merab started what happened today in his homeland by allowing himself to hit a guest and insulting his mother.”Since the incident occurred, Nurmagomedov hasn’t addressed the situation or given any statement on what happened.Nurmagomedov is in Abu Dhabi supporting his brother Umar Nurmagomedov, who was also involved in the altercation ahead of his scheduled wrestling match with Urijah Faber.RAF officials also haven’t addressed the melee or if Dvalishvli is still expected to perform on Saturday with him scheduled to face Marlon Moraes on the card.