On the night of September 10-11, a numbered UFC 279 tournament will be held in Las Vegas. In the main fight of the evening, Swedish fighter of Russian origin Khamzat Chimaev will have the biggest fight of his career. Wolf will face Nate Diaz.

But a few days before the opponents entered the fight, Chimaev had to test his fighting skills during a mass brawl, for which the promotion management once again turned out to be completely unprepared.

Dana White even had to apologize to the angry crowd for what happened.

“This has never happened in the history of the company”

Fights between fighters in the UFC have been occurring with enviable regularity in recent years. In most cases, the confrontation between athletes is limited to small skirmishes at a press conference. And this is more like an element of the show, warming up the interest of the public in the upcoming event, than a serious fight.

But sometimes showdowns between fighters outside the octagon get out of the control of the promotion management. Surely fans of mixed martial arts still have fresh memories of the multi-part confrontation between Conor and Khabib, which included massive brawls before and after the fight. The UFC management already then promised to take measures to avoid a repetition of what happened, but things are still there.

During a press conference dedicated to the upcoming UFC 279 tournament, the participation of all the fighters involved in the event was traditionally planned. Athletes had to appear before the press in pairs. But suddenly, in the midst of the event, there was a hitch. During a pause, a worried Dana White came out to the assembled journalists, announcing the cancellation of the rest of the press conference due to the massive brawl involving the teams of Chimaev, Diaz and Holland.

Dana White / Photo: © Jeff Bottari / Contributor / UFC / Gettyimages.com

– There will be no press conference, I apologize, but we have a very strange situation. This has never happened in the company’s history, so trust me, it’s the right decision not to hold a press conference now. For the safety of everyone, – quotes the words of the head of the UFC Russia promotion on social networks.

“I just offered this clown to shave his beard for free”

After the official statement, White gave a brief comment about what happened, but declined to give specific details of what happened, promising only to tighten security measures to prevent a recurrence of the incident.

But insiders almost immediately began to convey to the public similar versions of the conflict between the fighters. According to Brett Okamoto, the initial skirmish was between Chimaev and Holland. The reason for the brawl was Kevin’s bad joke.

– So that everyone knows. I just offered this clown to shave his beard for free. I don’t know of a place in the US where this service is offered for free! At your service, as well as the hotel staff,” the American fighter wrote on social networks.

Khamzat Chimaev / Photo: © Mathias Bergeld / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press

This conflict was quickly settled, but it received an unexpected continuation before the release of Chimaev and Diaz on stage. An unknown from Nate’s retinue threw an object at Khamzat, after which a massive brawl began with the participation of teams of fighters, for which the UFC security service was completely unprepared. The scale of what happened was voiced by White.

There were 57 people in Diaz’s camp. There were 30-something people in Khamzat’s team. It was crazy,” Dana told reporters.

All the details of the fight that took place are still unknown, but, apparently, none of the fighters was seriously injured, at least no one announced the withdrawal from the fights. Shared his impressions of the brawl with the audience on social networks and Khamzat.

“I told them all not to joke with us. Kevin got his, Diaz got his, ”Chimaev said in a video message with a noticeable abrasion on his nose.

Journalist Ariel Helwani said that Volk kicked Holland in the chest, but the American pretended not to feel him at all, suggesting that the UFC staff add an unsuccessful attack attempt to Chimaev’s statistics.

The next act of confrontation between Chimaev and Diaz will take place in the cage. And now there is no doubt that it will be very hot there.