New Delhi, Nov. 12 -- ABU DHABI - Islam Makhachev has put his support behind Usman Nurmagomedov after the hotel-lobby attack on Merab Dvalishvili, turning attention back to an earlier confrontation in Georgia while leaving the immediate circumstances in Abu Dhabi unresolved.

The UFC welterweight champion defended his longtime teammate in a statement published Wednesday, arguing that criticism of Nurmagomedov ignored Dvalishvili's conduct toward another member of their wider training circle in July. His intervention supplied an explanation from one side of the dispute, not an independently established account of why the latest incident happened.

The distinction carries practical stakes before Saturday's Real American Freestyle wrestling ...