UFC employees working Saturday’s UFC 224 event in Rio de Janeiro were robbed outside the host hotel on Thursday according to President Dana White (via ESPN’s Brett Okamoto).
Just spoke to UFC president Dana White about an incident that is apparently ongoing right now in Brazil. White was just told several employees and others associated with UFC 224 were held up at gunpoint near the host hotel in Rio. No one hurt. Police involved now.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 11, 2018
According to the report, no injuries were suffered however several employees had personal phones, wallets and passports stolen. In addition, Brazilian police are now involved and are in the reviewing security footage. It appears as though no fighters were impacted by this scary scene.
This is the second straight pay-per-view event that has been affected by an out-of-cage incident during fight week. In April, Conor McGregor attacked a bus full of UFC 223 fighters which forced several competitors off that card. This was in response to headliner Khabib Nurmagomedov confronting McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov earlier in the week. McGregor is facing criminal charges for his actions.
Despite this incident, UFC 224 will still take place with Amanda Nunes defending her women’s bantamweight title Raquel Pennington in the main event. This marks the first time two openly gay fighters face off in both a main event and a championship bout.
It didn’t take long for controversial UFC welterweight Colby Covington to weigh-in on the incident.
It's ok America. June 9th I'll get revenge by mugging RDA for 10 lbs of gold and all his lunch money at the United Center in Chicago. #Ufc225 #ufc224 #FilthyAnimals https://t.co/lDzlhcqSiO
— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) May 11, 2018
Covington (13-1) is set to face Rafael Dos Anjos next month at UFC 225 for the interim welterweight championship. Some argue his controversial actions and statements have earned him this title fight, as he’s been making headlines on a regular basis. Last week in a series of interviews, he went after UFC commentator Joe Rogan and UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. In addition he got into a scuffle with “Felony” Charles Bennett, he has beef with UFC welterweight Mike Perry and also threw some shade at Jon Jones in this recent interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-VShcJp6_c&t
The 30-year-old American Top Team product is currently riding a five-fight win streak, including a win over two-time UFC title challenger Demian Maia in his last bout at UFC Fight Night 119 in October.
Did Colby Covington go to far with his tweet? Comment below and tell us what you think!
