The UFC’s legal team might have an easier week than perhaps they might have expected.
At last Saturday night’s UFC 300 card from Las Vegas, lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan caused some controversy when he appeared to become entangled in an altercation with a fan while walking to the cage ahead of his split-decision win over former champion Charles Oliveira.
Speaking in the post-fight press conference, Tsarukyan elaborated on the incident: “He showed me f*ck you [middle finger] and wanted to punch me, and I wanted to punch him back, that’s it.
“So guys, like no one show me f*ck you. Doesn’t matter who you are, I’m going to punch you in the face. You can show me f*ck from like 200 metres, I’m not going to punch you. But when you’re close to me, it’s like automatically, I’m like from Russia. Like don’t do that, please, or I’m going to go to the prison in US.”
Arman Tsarukyan punched a fan during his walkout to fight Charles Oliveira 😅 pic.twitter.com/DMoX27o8H1
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) April 14, 2024
In his own comments addressing the incident, UFC CEO Dana White said that he expected that there might be some legal issues arising from the fracas.
“Yeah, you might not want to hang over the things and grab people when they’re walking out,” he said. “These guys are all f*cking piped up, whatever. I’m sure we’re probably going to get sued. We’ll deal with that on Monday too.”
However the fan in question, identified by Bloody Elbow as Obed Ardon, said that the incident is water under the bridge.
“I’d like to apologise to Arman for provoking him by flipping him off. I was buzzing all day and the moment got to me,” he said.
“It was my first time attending a live UFC event and it was absolutely incredible. I’m glad the incident wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I do want to make clear that I didn’t pull him towards me, yell out offensive words or anything of that nature. I flipped him off, nothing else. Congrats to Arman on a great performance and best of luck to him against whoever he fights for the title.”
He added: “To answer Dana White’s comments about suing: I will not sue, that never crossed my mind. My first thought was I hope I don’t get kicked out. Thank you Uncle Dana for blessing us with an amazing 300 card… and can you bless me and my brothers up with tickets to UFC 303?”
