There was chaos on Friday as the UFC 279 press conference was cancelled in a move which Dana White said had “never happened” in the promotion’s history.
But if comments from Khamzat Chimaev earlier in the week are anything to go by, it is something we should have seen coming.
White confirmed after the press conference was cancelled in a media scrum that Chimaev and Kevin Holland were involved in an altercation and that it got uglier from there.
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Holland took to Twitter afterwards to claim he offered Chimaev “a beard trim” before the two camps clashed.
It comes after Chimaev revealed earlier in the week that he was hoping for a press conference brawl, although his beef at that point was with opponent Nate Diaz.
“If they wanna fight before (Saturday), f*** the money, brother, I’m gonna fight with them. I love to fight,” Chimaev told ESPN.
“I’ve been born for war. I’m inside a warrior, don’t care. When the fights come, you don’t care about money or what’s behind it, just fight. If he wants to fight there with his team, I have like 20 guys with me. We’ll fight with all the teams, you know. I hope so. I would love if it happens, something crazy things there.
“His team is old, brother. My team is fresh. We kill this. His team almost handicapped, brother.”
Even still, hardly anyone could believe what unfolded on Friday, with the UFC world quick to reach to the news.
