Khamzat Chimaev and Kevin Holland and their teams continued to bicker at one another following the press conference being canceled.
Before the press conference was set to begin, Dana White said “all hell broke loose” and there was a scuffle. The UFC boss was then forced to cancel the event, and he gave more details about it as he said Chimaev and Holland went at it followed by Diaz’s team being part of it.
“Yeah, this ain’t gonna happen, I apologize, everybody, I am in very weird waters here. This has never happened in the history of the company. Trust me when I tell you, this was the right decision not to do this press conference right now. (Crowd boos) I hear ya, I’m with ya but for everybody’s safety this is the right decision, alright, I apologize. Thanks for coming,” White said to the crowd who attended the UFC 279 press conference.
“There was multiple, crazy, I don’t even know what to call it. However many years, 22 years, however long I’ve been doing this, we’ve never had an incident like today,” White added after the press conference. “All hell broke loose out here. I don’t even know, we stopped it but we didn’t do a good job of not letting it happen.”
Following the press conference being canceled, both Kevin Holland and Khamzat Chimaev took subtle shots at one another on social media about what happened. However, it didn’t stop there as in the fighter hotel their teams had a verbal argument which included Darren Till and Holland going back and forth.
Tensions between Kevin Holland and Chimaev's team continued in the lobby after the press conference, followed by a friendly cameo from Holland's opponent Daniel Rodriguez.
📹 via IG/chrisslowens pic.twitter.com/ilyL2DGY4n
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) September 9, 2022
🚨| Daniel Rodriguez’s IG story just 10 minutes ago. Appears to still be some tensions around the arena.#UFC279 pic.twitter.com/hahwtirJaN
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) September 9, 2022
Although Kevin Holland and Khamzat Chimaev have been going at it throughout UFC 279 fight week the two aren’t actually competing against one another this weekend. Chimaev is headlining the card against Nate Diaz while Holland is taking on Daniel Rodriguez. But, perhaps after this fight week, the two will share the Octagon against one another soon.
What do you make of this verbal altercation between Khamzat Chimaev and Kevin Holland and their teams?