UFC 279 press conference canceled after backstage melee involving Khamzat Chimaev, Kevin Holland and Nate Diaz

For the first time in UFC history, a press conference leading into a fight had to be canceled after a backstage incident between UFC 279 main card fighters Khamzat Chimaev, Kevin Holland and Nate Diaz turned physical.

And that’s saying something considering some of the things that have happened at the press conferences.

MORE: UFC 279 date, start time, odds, schedule & card for Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz

UFC President Dana White appeared in front of the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden about 30 minutes later than the scheduled 7 p.m. ET start time to apologize for the delay as they waited for Chimaev, Diaz, Holland, Daniel Rodriguez, Tony Ferguson and Li Jingliang to take to the stage. 

“We had a big sh-t show break out back there,” White said before explaining that he would be bringing the main card fighters out two at a time as a precautionary measure. Holland appeared with his opponent Rodriguez and everything seemed to be civil.  

However, prior to Ferguson and Jingliang hitting the stage, a UFC security guard appeared on stage to speak to White. Shortly after, White informed the crowd that the press conference would need to end.

“For everybody’s safety this is the right decision,” White said before apologizing and leaving the stage to a chorus of boos.

White admitted when he met with reporters that thought everyone could hear the commotion backstage and didn’t think it’d be a shock that he cancelled the press conference. He didn’t go into details but said “multiple fighters were involved.” White stated that he would need to change his approach to press conferences and make sure there is enough security backstage to keep things under control.

White also noted that Diaz and Chimaev had “100 people” with them backstage and “things went downhill” after Chimaev and Holland initially had friction. Reports suggest that Diaz and his camp were eventually pulled into the beef and the sheer number of people involved overwhelmed the amount of security backstage. 

Holland took Twitter to tease his side of the story, suggesting that he had a run-in with Chimaev.

Reports suggest that punches, kicks and objects were thrown between parties. White said that nobody was injured and the fights would go on Saturday night as scheduled.

“However long I’ve been doing this, we’ve never had an incident like today,” White said. 

UFC press conferences have had a history of spinning out of control. Numerous press conferences involving Conor McGregor has nearly turned physical, notably the conference ahead of his showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in 2018. But nothing prior to Thursday’s series of events has ever caused a cancelation.  

Facebook Comments Box

Hits: 0