Usman Nurmagomedov, The MMA Fighter Who Jumped Merab Dvalishvili in Hotel Lobby, Has Been Sentenced to 6 Months in UAE Prison
You've got to be one crazy motherfucker to jump a man in Abu Dhabi. I don't know what prisons in the UAE are like. For all I know, it could be one of those countries where they sentence you to life behind bars for spitting on the sidewalk. And if I ever found myself in the country, I wouldn't care to find out.
But Usman Nurmagomedov couldn't contain himself. He and the homies just HAD to do this.
Which equates to 6 months behind bars in the UAE. In Usman's defense, he is from Dagestan, Russia. So the prospects of a prison in Abu Dhabi might not be especially scary to him. They can't be much better or worse than whatever's back home. I also imagine prison isn't especially "scary" when you're a professional MMA fighter. Come to think of it... when you can kick the ass of 99.99% of people on the planet, prison might be alright. At least you get to be the toughest guy in a building full of tough guys.
For anyone who's curious, $300K AED is approximately $82,000 USD. So that's 6 months in a Middle Eastern prison and nearly a hundred grand fine for Usman and 5 of his buddies. And they're all being deported afterward.
Additionally, Merab (the guy who was jumped) was fined $50K AED (~$14,000 USD) for "disturbing public security and assaulting others, but given no jail time. Still seems a little extreme for a guy who really did nothing more than defend himself. Was he just supposed to run away? Or curl up into a ball? He did what any person with the means to fight back would do in that situation.
And among those who will be serving 6 months – the people who filmed the fight. "For violating privacy by using information technology to film and publish footage of the brawl". Lol. I bet they feel like idiots. They didn't get a single lick in. They just stood back like bitches filming the whole thing, and are being punished as harshly as anyone.
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I guess you shouldn't jump dudes in Abu Dhabi hotels. Even if the dude is another MMA fighter. Even if you really, really don't like the guy.
This fight is still going to happen for real someday, right? I know the "appropriate" thing to say would be that there's no place for this in the sport. Even in a sport full of trained killers. But the way I see it… it's a sport full of trained killers. This is arguably the best fight promo I've seen in… ever. Nothing is staged. The hate is real. Whenever Usman gets out of prison, I hope the UAE deports him directly to an octagon where Merab is waiting with gloves on.
But in the meantime…
In the end, it turned out to be a pretty good week for Merab. Other than the $14K fine and getting jumped at a hotel. I suppose that's not great. But he sure came out of the whole thing looking pretty good. A whole lot better than Usman.