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Fans have hilariously reacted to a video of the alleged multiple backstage brawls/altercations involving Khamzat Chimaev, Kevin Holland, Nate Diaz, and others at the UFC 279 pre-fight press conference. A video posted by the ESPN MMA Twitter account via the UFC features some footage from the incident, which led to UFC president Dana White canceling the press conference.
The footage shows Khamzat Chimaev landing a push kick on Kevin Holland while being separated by security personnel. Thankfully, the personnel restrained the fighters and successfully separated them after 'Borz' landed the kick.
Following that, both fighters exchanged words from afar. Furthermore, the footage also features Nate Diaz throwing a water bottle, likely in Chimaev's general direction.
Watch the footage in the video below:
Many in the MMA community have now trolled Dana White over his claims that a full-fledged mass brawl between more than 30 people on Chimaev's team and around 57 people on Diaz's team could've broken out at the press conference. Taking to Twitter, fans downplayed the incident and trolled the UFC for canceling the press conference due to safety concerns:
"lol thats it...thats all that happened? HaHaHa"
"What I'm seeing is they canceled the presser over trash talk to promote the fight"
"Weak… that’s what stopped the press"
"F**king hell had bigger scuffles at nursery school"
"Yeah totally seems like a 30 vs 70 person melee, this was a industry plant"
Furthermore, some fans have suggested that the UFC is yet to reveal the true extent of the brawls at the press conference. Meanwhile, others jibed at Nate Diaz for throwing a water bottle akin to what he did at a UFC 202 press conference back in 2016. Moreover, some fans jested about Khamzat Chimaev's push kick:
"Show us what actually happened"
"Nate and his army of stooges all scared of one man. lol"
"whats up with nate and water bottles"
"So that was the push kick he was hyping up"
Dana White on Khamzat Chimaev and others possibly being penalized for their actions
After canceling the UFC 279 pre-fight press conference well before it could even get halfway through, Dana White spoke to the media. White notably addressed whether Khamzat Chimaev and the other fighters involved in the backstage incident would face repercussions.
He indicated that no punitive action would be taken against them. Noting that these things happen in the fight business, White said:
"What we do is look at how this happened today -- why were we unprepared for this? Why were we not able to manage this backstage better than we did? And we'll be better next time we do a press conference. This will never happen to us again."
Watch White's assessment below:
