Why was Iranian fighter Ali Heibati slapped with a lifetime ban? Explaining in-cage drama involving ring girl

Iranian fighter Ali Heibati has been handed a lifetime ban from participating in future Hardcore Fighting Championship (HFC) events for kicking a ring girl during his most recent fight.

On April 19, Heibati took on Arkadiy Osipyan in a lightweight bout at a HFC MMA event. Just before the fight started Heibati displayed poor conduct, kicking a ring girl from behind while she was walking past him with a card signaling the commencement of the opening round.

This made the ring-card girl turn around and voice her resentment to the fighter's action, prompting the referee to warn him. However, the fighter's questionable behavior did not stop there.

Heibati lost the fight after the referee called a stop to the contest in the closing minute of Round 1, owing to unanswered ground and pound. Upset with the result he shed all sense of professionalism as he sucker-punched his opponent from behind while Osipyan was returning to his corner.

Watch Ali Heibati's unprofessional conduct below:

According to a report by Mirror, the fighter also argued with and even kicked a commentator following the event. Footage has also emerged of him getting beaten up by members of the crowd following the loss.

In an Instagram post following the unfortunate string of events, HFC released a statement condemning Heibati's actions towards the ring girl.

Furthermore, the fighter's entire purse will be transferred to the ring-side diva as compensation. The organization also confirmed that the fighter and others who took part in the post-fight melee would be banned from future events.

Catch HFC's statement about Ali Heibati's actions below:

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Ali Heibati apologizes to the ring girl

Following his unprofessional and despicable actions towards the ring girl, Ali Heibati made a public apology. In an Instagram post, the mixed martial artist said:

"This is for Maria. I didn't act right with her. The reason was that before the MMA fight, there were a lot of fist fights. I stayed there in the cage and I wanted to go out and fight... So before the fight, I acted badly towards Maria. I want to publically apologize to her. "

The MMA fighter added:

"I'm a married man, so I respect the female gender... Tell Maria that I'm sorry. [Transcpritps H/t Mirror]"

Heibati is 0-1 in professional MMA. According to Tapology, he is ranked 789 out of 997 active pro lightweights in Russia.