One other day, one other brawl, one other fan getting punched within the face. No huge deal, in keeping with UFC CEO Dana White.
This time it was Merab Dvalishvili and UFC light-weight Dennis Buzukja who bought into it with a Shavkat Rakhmonov fan within the crowd after cornering Aljamain Sterling within the prelims. Safety wrangled “The Machine” backstage however Buzukja exchanged punches with the fan, who would find yourself hanging out with Merab’s subsequent opponent, Umar Nurmagomedov.
“This isn’t his first altercation,” White stated of the incident. “I don’t know when you guys seen on the press convention yesterday too — someone yelled one thing, he’s in the course of dialog. He regarded like he’s attempting to see who stated that. Like what? You’re gonna run over there and also you’re gonna combat this man too?”
“It simply the best way he’s. He’s constructed that manner. And I don’t know when you noticed, however he wasn’t sitting within the common fighter part. We needed to transfer him over. I needed to transfer the opposite two guys over at our desk. We attempt to diffuse these things earlier than it occurs. And tonight, we had recreation plan. I didn’t assume he’d get right into a combat strolling out with Aljamain.”
“He’s my mini Strickland with out the mouth,” White stated later. “What do you do? Allow them to purchase the pay-per-view, I suppose. I don’t know. You may’t preserve preventing the f—ing followers. It’s gonna value you a large number. You are able to do it. It’s gonna value you some huge cash. Proper? I say it on a regular basis. We’re within the f—ing combat enterprise. This occurs. We gotta cope with it.”
“Tonight, we tried. We took Islam [Umar], took them out, put them [cageside], moved Merab over to the opposite aspect, had Umar and his crew over within the center, and we nonetheless had issues … We do our greatest.”
White was requested what he considered Dvalishvili’s extraordinarily vocal try to keep away from Nurmagomedov as his first title challenger. He’d finally relent, however it was fairly apparent he didn’t wish to combat Umar. Was it worry?
“I don’t assume that any of those guys are afraid of anyone,” White replied. “I’m positive there’s sure guys they’d quite wait to combat, and so they all have their causes or no matter. However Merab is preventing individuals within the f—ing stands, okay? Merab would get in a combat in the course of the the fighter part. That’s why we moved him over to the left.”
“So I wouldn’t say that any of those guys are afraid of anyone or any combat. However fighters are a paranoid bunch. There’s at all times some conspiracy in opposition to them, whether or not it’s us or different individuals or we make fights that individuals wanna see. They win or lose the fights on their very own, however they [see] conspiracy there. They at all times assume that someone is in opposition to them.”
“Possibly that’s what they should have that psychological factor to exit and do what they do,” White concluded.
