Daniel Cormier finds teammate Usman Nurmagomedov's attack on Merab Dvalishvili completely unacceptable.
Nurmagomedov walked up to Merab Dvalishvili and slapped him on Wednesday night, which ignited a massive brawl between the two sides in Abu Dhabi. Numerous people were arrested – including Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili. Friday, it was announced many on the Nurmagomedov side will be going to prison in Abu Dhabi
for their parts.Nurmagomedov was retaliating after Dvalishvili slapped Umar Nurmagomedov's friend, Ahmed Gadzhimagomedov, backstage at RAF Georgia in August.
Cormier defended Nurmagomedov after he jumped the cage at UFC Shanghai to tend for his brother Umar, who had just gotten knocked out by Song Yadong. However, this time, Nurmagomedov won't
be receiving any sympathy from Cormier.
"I saw Usman Nurmagomedov and a group of guys jump Merab Dvalishvili," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "Watching that visual was actually very sad because I know Usman. I know Merab. I know there's a lot of bad blood between these two camps. I also know that it should never lead to behavior like we saw. Emotions run high, and this is me talking after fighting Jon Jones in the lobby of the MGM Grand and pursuing fights in so many different situations. Emotions run high in rivalries. At times I was guilty of bad behavior, but today was really bad and it should never happen.
"We as fighters should not fear or worry about our safety whenever we go to places to do other things. I saw somewhere that Merab had smacked someone in Georgia; one bad action should not lead to another bad action because now, both of these guys lose in this situation. Merab was there to wrestle at RAF, now he's probably not going to get to compete. Usman is a free agent that's signed to the PFL, maybe looking to do something different down the line. This thing will stick with him for as long as his career goes now. There is no winning in this situation."
Cormier warns Nurmagomedov that his recent actions could jeopardize his career.
"Usman is going to find himself in real big trouble for this," Cormier added. "And deservedly so, you cannot do that. "We are professionals, it's dangerous. It's very dangerous to fight in real life. ... I'm not trying to spin and protect anything. Bad behavior is bad behavior. I'd imagine that when Khabib gets to him and speaks to him, Khabib will talk to him about his actions. Usman has to control himself. Now it's been multiple times. Jumping in the ring, and now this."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier: Usman Nurmagomedov will be in real big trouble – and deservedly so
