‘NO SECURITY!’: Dana White weighs in on chaotic brawl in stands at UFC event in Mexico
'Nobody stopped it. I was waiting for security to come in. They just let them go until it was over'
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The crowd went wild – literally – during UFC’s Fight Night event in Mexico City on Saturday and Dana White didn’t seem too bothered by it.
The UFC president played down the brutal fight that saw multiple fans in the crowd exchanging haymakers and tearing at each other’s shirts.
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‘NO SECURITY!’: Dana White weighs in on chaotic brawl in stands at UFC event in Mexico Back to video
One man appeared to be knocked out cold, hitting the floor after taking a left hook to the chin.
White was not all that perturbed by the situation, however, saying that the chaotic scene didn’t reflect poorly on the world’s biggest MMA promotion.
“The fight in the crowd doesn’t look good for the UFC? That never happens. That literally never happens,” White told reporters at the post-event news conference.
“It happened here in Mexico City. The crazy thing about that fight, when that fight broke out, it felt like it kept going forever. So I ran over there and was watching it.
“Nobody stopped it. I was waiting for security to come in. They just let them go until it was over.”
White didn’t think that the lack of security present to break things up was a “bad look” for UFC. He said seeing the result of the fracas might actually have been enough to keep everyone else in line.
“That was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. I don’t think it’s a bad look for the UFC. It happened and that was the end of that.
“I think after everybody saw the end of that s***, nobody else wanted to try that again.
“No security! The fight just went on until it was over. I’ve never seen any s*** like that in my life.”
The event was the first in more than four years that the UFC held in Mexico and the promotion featured two of the country’s former champions squaring off in the main event with Brandon Royval defeating Brandon Moreno by a controversial split decision. While two judges scored the fight 48-47 for Royval, the other had Moreno on top 49-46.
The UFC also used the event to serve as a launch for its first Performance Institute in Mexico earlier in the week. The state-of-the-art facility includes a weight room, grappling floor, nutrition lab and physical therapy.
“This has been a dream and goal of mine since 2001. To finally be here and walk the halls of the UFC Performance Institute in Mexico City is a monumental moment in the history of our sport,” White wrote in a release.
“The impact this facility will have on Mexico, as well as both Central and South America, will be MASSIVE.”
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