The pre-fight press conference for UFC 279 was canceled just moments after its start as Dana White pulled the plug on the event due to an altercation between the two fighters backstage.
“S*** show – Absolute s*** show back there,” White said as soon as he got on the stage. “Ask them questions. There is a lot of crazy going back in there.”
The press conference actually started with just two fighters on the podium as Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez answered some questions from the media instead of the six athletes who were due to attend on Thursday.
A source who spoke to MMA Fighting after the press conference was called off stated that “chaos happened,” but there were no further details on what actually led to the incident.
White later told reporters behind the scenes that a brawl between Holland and UFC 279 main event fighter Khamzat Chimaev sparked the fire that broke out in a much larger incident between the athletes and their backstage camps.
Dana White says things have gotten “too physical” between many of the fighters behind the scenes. # UFC279
Jose Youngs September 8, 2022
Dana White confirms that Kevin Holland and Khameef Shemayev were the catalysts for the chaos behind the scenes # UFC279
Jose Youngs September 8, 2022
After Holland and Rodriguez confronted the stage and left, White spoke to members of the PR staff along with security before deciding to end the press conference almost as quickly as it had begun.
“It’s not going to happen,” White told a frustrated audience. “I apologize to everyone. I am in strange waters here. This has never happened in the history of this company.
Believe me when I tell you that this is the right decision not to do this press conference now. For everyone’s safety, this is the right decision. I apologize. thanks for coming.”
White later stated that the lack of backstage security allowed the volatile situation to boil over, something the UFC will address for the future. He added that the incident would not threaten the battles or the event taking place on Saturday night.
Dana White reiterates “it was the right move” to cancel the press conference. It was waived for the safety of fans if campers jumped over the barrier on stage # UFC279
Jose Youngs September 8, 2022
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