Urijah Faber faces newly viral Georgian wrestler Saba Lazishvili at RAF Abu Dhabi on November 14, 2026, in a late-replacement catchweight crossover bout at Etihad Arena.
Real American Freestyle (RAF) confirmed the matchup after removing Umar Nurmagomedov from the card. Lazishvili, a 21-year-old with a pure freestyle wrestling background and no professional MMA record, steps in on short notice for what will be his professional wrestling debut in the promotion. Faber, the UFC Hall of Famer and former WEC champion known as “The California Kid,” brings decades of combat-sports experience and a strong wrestling base from his MMA career; he has previously competed in RAF, including losses by technical fall to Henry Cejudo and Arman Tsarukyan.
The card also features Merab Dvalishvili (still scheduled against Marlon Moraes) and is headlined by a light-heavyweight crossover championship bout between Khamzat Chimaev and Chris Weidman. The event starts at 8 p.m. Gulf Standard Time (11 a.m. ET) and streams on platforms including FOX Nation.
How Saba Lazishvili became popular overnight
Until mid-November 2026, Saba Lazishvili was little known outside Georgian wrestling and training circles. He is the younger brother of former UFC fighter and LFA bantamweight champion Zviad Lazishvili, comes from a wrestling family (his father Anzor is a two-time world veteran freestyle champion), and has competed in Georgian national events with junior medals. He has trained alongside Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling and has spent time in U.S. camps connected to Syndicate MMA. A knee injury previously cost him about two years of competition.
His profile exploded after a hotel-lobby altercation in Abu Dhabi on November 11. Video showed Usman Nurmagomedov approaching and striking Merab Dvalishvili during what appeared to be a media interview, sparking a chaotic multi-person brawl in which Dvalishvili and Lazishvili were heavily outnumbered. Footage of Lazishvili fighting back—reportedly flooring multiple members of the opposing group despite limited striking experience—spread rapidly across social media. Clips turned him into an immediate combat-sports talking point for his loyalty and effectiveness under pressure.
Follower counts on his Instagram account surged from a few thousand (reports ranged from under 1,000–3,000) to hundreds of thousands within 24–48 hours, with later updates citing figures above 400,000 and over 600,000. Fans, fighters, and commentators praised him as a “Georgian hero” and “cult figure.” He and Dvalishvili were detained, released after fines, and cleared to compete; several individuals from the other side, including Usman Nurmagomedov according to reports, received prison sentences, fines, and deportation orders. Umar Nurmagomedov (Usman’s brother) was subsequently removed from the Faber matchup.
RAF co-founder Chad Bronstein and the promotion moved quickly to place Lazishvili on the card opposite Faber, turning a fight-week controversy into one of the event’s most compelling storylines: a lifelong wrestler and sudden internet star making his pro debut against a Hall of Famer three days after the incident that made him famous.
The bout is framed as a freestyle-style crossover under RAF rules rather than an MMA fight. For Lazishvili it offers a high-visibility platform and a chance to showcase the wrestling skills that defined his background. For Faber it is another test against a much younger, pure wrestling opponent amid his continued post-MMA competitive appearances. The rapid sequence—from anonymous training partner to viral defender to main-card wrestler—has made the Faber–Lazishvili match one of the defining narratives of RAF Abu Dhabi.
