UFC President Dana White is the brightest and most charismatic leader in the MMA world. He brought mixed martial arts to a new level of popularity and became famous for his ability to create shows from nothing.

But even White himself was shocked by the act of his Russian colleague, who unexpectedly burst into the cage right during the scandalous fight and dealt harshly with the fighters.

“Yes, everyone is free!”

The Russian League of Mixed Martial Arts ACA recently decided to organize a Grand Prix with the participation of eight lightweights (up to 70.3 kg). As part of the quarterfinal duel, two famous Russian fighters Ali Bagov and Rashid Magomedov were supposed to meet.

Both athletes have rich experience of playing in prestigious international promotions, so the organizers expected a lot from this confrontation. No wonder the fight became the main event of ACA 141.

But all the events before the start of the battle were as insipid as possible. Athletes did without trash talk, popular in mixed martial arts. On the contrary, they spoke too respectfully about each other. They behaved just as worthily in all joint appearances in public. Such behavior is uncharacteristic of the MMA world, but does not mean that rivals will feel sorry for each other in the octagon.

However, in the fight between Bagov and Magomedov, to the dismay of the organizers and fans, the peacefulness and calmness of the fighters passed to the fight itself. For four rounds, the opponents frankly portrayed the semblance of a battle, without causing any tangible damage to each other. Already after the first five minutes, the judge began to warn the opponents about passivity, but this did not particularly affect the intensity of the fight. For all the time that the battle lasted, the opponents did not deliver a single accented blow.

Looking at these “fifteen” was frankly boring. Mayrbek Khasiev, the founder of ACA, could not stand it either. Before the fifth round, the head of the promotion appeared in the cage and unexpectedly stopped the fight, disqualifying both opponents for passivity. As a result, the fight was declared invalid.

Mairbek Khasiev / Photo: © A.C.A.M.A.

– The ACA League today, no matter what anyone says, is the second league in the world. When I say this, every time you reproach us for something. And now we show you what kind of organization we are. That’s it, disqualification! I don’t have enough nerves. What it is? Are you taking us for boys or what? Yes, everyone is free! Khasiev burst into an emotional tirade.

After the end of the tournament, when the emotions subsided a little, he also expressed the opinion that the fight was of a contractual nature. The head of the ACA also spoke about the tough sanctions that the league will apply to athletes.

We won’t pay a fee. People came to see a good fight, we made serious expenses, and in fact we were framed. These are their problems. We don’t keep a single fighter, the doors are open both for entry and exit, ”Khasiev said in an interview with Match TV.

“It’s just awesome”

The extraordinary act of the head of the promotion made a lot of noise not only in Russia. Discussed with reporters what happened on ACA 141 and Dana White. The UFC President was sincerely surprised by the act of his Russian colleague.

– This is fucking awesome! Props to this guy. Unbelievable and highly unprofessional, but at the same time just fucking awesome! Was it really such a boring fight? This gave me some ideas for next Tuesday. There are days when I want to throw a chair in a cage or get up and go to my office, but I have to come to terms with what is happening. Although it would be worth doing what this guy from the ACA did,” the shocked functionary did not hide his emotions.

Dana White / Photo: © Jason Silva / ZUMA Press / Global Look Press

There was also a moment of disappointment in this speech by White for the leaders of the Russian ACA league, who claim that their promotion is the second in the world. Unfortunately, all their efforts, apparently, did not make Dana draw attention to themselves. The head of the UFC could not even make out the name of the league correctly, and the journalist who asked the question had to slowly repeat the abbreviation so that White could hear it correctly.

After this statement by Dana, we can safely say that not only the UFC is now setting global trends in the development of MMA, but this organization also has a lot to learn from the Russian organizers of mixed martial arts tournaments.