Jorge Masvidal earned a second round knockout against Darren Till in the main event at UFC Fight Night in London and he tried to score a second victory after engaging in a backstage fight with Leon Edwards just minutes after the card was finished.
The altercation took place during Masvidal’s interview with ESPN following his win as Edwards was walking nearby in the vicinity and shouting at him from off camera.
Masvidal turned his attention to Edwards and then left the interview to go confront him.
A split second later as Edwards walked towards him, Masvidal unleashed a series of punches in rapid-fire succession as security quickly rushed into separate the fighters before a full on brawl broke out.
OMG pic.twitter.com/yVDoMG0czq
— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman) March 16, 2019
Afterwards, Masvidal was escorted out of the O2 Arena while Edwards was treated for a small cut before he left as well.
In the aftermath, UFC president Dana White issued a statement on the altercation via the UFC’s television partner at ESPN.
“I can’t even believe that this happened,” White said. “We (UFC) need to do a much better job of making sure this s–t doesn’t happen at any of our events!!!!”
This isn’t the first post fight incident to break out in recent memory.
At UFC 229 this past October, lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov leapt over the cage after defeating Conor McGregor in an attempt to go after one of his teammates working his corner. Nurmagomedov ultimately faced a $500,000 fine and a nine month suspension for his actions.
It’s not likely Masvidal will face the same repercussions, however, as his near brawl with Edwards was broken apart within seconds and only the two fighters were involved.
Add to that, the UFC doesn’t answer to an athletic commission in London so any potential punishments handed down would only come from the organization under their athlete code of conduct policy.
