Merab Dvalishvili was released from a detention center early Friday morning following his arrest stemming from a hotel brawl involving PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, according to “Yahoo Sports”.
RAF CEO and co-founder Chad Bronstein released an official statement announcing the latest development in the Dvalishvili saga.
Merab Dvalishvili and Saba Lazishvili were just released from a UAE detention center after being held since Wednesday following the hotel brawl in Abu Dhabi, according to “Ariel Helwani”.
Helwani reported that Bronstein played a major role in securing Dvalishvili’s freedom by working tirelessly alongside local authorities over a 48-hour window.
Saba Lazishvili was also free, Helwani reported.
Abu Dhabi police arrested eight people in response to the hotel brawl involving Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov among others, per “the authorities and related reports”.
Video of the incident emerged online Wednesday along with a video message showing a bloodied Dvalishvili claiming he was attacked from behind by Nurmagomedov and several other men, as detailed by “online footage and coverage”.
Both Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov are slated to wrestle on RAF’s card this weekend.
Neither fighter was present at Thursday’s RAF press conference, according to “MMA Fighting”, and Bronstein said he did not yet know the status of those matches.
Bronstein did say that, regardless of whether the matches move forward, Usman Nurmagomedov would not be welcome at the event.
Bronstein stated, “Obviously, Usman will not be attending our event on Saturday night.”