Over the past few years, we’ve seen increasingly more heated altercations between fighters and abusive fans attending UFC events – with two more incidents on the recent PPV at The Sphere.
Considered one of those incidents involved newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and his teammate, Aljamain Sterling, with the ‘Funkmaster’ sending an ominous warning to those fans who try and antagonize skilled MMA fighters.
Aljamain Sterling warns UFC fans have gotten ‘too comfortable’ trashing fighters
After the ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC 306 last weekend, bantamweight stars Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling were filmed in a heated confrontation with a bunch of Sean O’Malley fans outside of The Sphere arena.
Various insults were hurled towards the 2 UFC fighters, with Dvalishvili even being pulled back by security and Sterling lunging as if he was about to throw a water bottle into the group of hecklers, a few of whom were later identified as close friends of O’Malley.
Now, Sterling has come out to clarify what caused the viral confrontation, telling MMA Today how UFC fans have gotten frustratingly accustomed to trash-talking fighters and hiding from their words.
“When Merab went on the bus after the Friday evening face-off, we saw a bunch of individuals waving him down, so he gets off the bus to go over [because] that’s the kind of guy he’s. Now, his minions Schmitty [friend of O’Malley] and the opposite skinny twig were on the opposite side – I see these guys screaming and yelling, coming all of the back over to be a******.
“I used to be like ‘Alright guys, the presser is completed, and now you’re actually in our personal space’. I told him ‘Dude, you’re really close now and also you’re being straight-up disrespectful [and] I’m right here now, so if you wish to sit behind this, you’re not very distant from me.”
“Some persons are saying that I’m being too soft, f*** you,” lamented the previous bantamweight champion, who was recently forced to withdraw from his upcoming UFC 307 fight against Movsar Evloev with an injury.
“There was a time where your words had consequences,” continued the veteran submission specialist, as he noted that there’s a concerning trend with all these altercations with fans.
“People have gotten way too comfortable with just being complete a***** and considering that there’s nothing incorrect with them being a******… We’re not in the world where you’ll be able to chirp away where you’ve paid up money [to be there].
“Now we’re in our personal space, we’re working and being skilled with what we try to do, and also you’re literally walking over and being a whole p****. There’s nothing cool about that in any way… I believe there’s a time and a spot, they simply picked the incorrect place.”
Aljamain Sterling wasn’t the one fighter confronting fans at The Sphere
UFC 306 wasn’t the primary time that Merab Dvalishvili has generated headlines for the best way that he deals with UFC fans insulting him; having climbed not one, but two barriers in an effort to confront hecklers before.
In truth, there was one other incident at probably the most recent PPV, one that truly occurred inside The Sphere itself; this time involving UFC featherweight contender Brian Ortega.
As Ortega was leaving the world following his loss to Diego Lopes, one fan filmed himself shouting some relatively low-hanging personal insults towards ‘T-City’, who barged past security to confront the heckler.
It wasn’t clear what Ortega yelled in response, however the UFC fighter was quickly ushered away by security; indicating that there was not less than some level of malice within the words exchanged.
Should UFC fans proceed to antagonize fighters in such disrespectful ways, especially around their fights, it sadly won’t be long before a verbal confrontation turns physical; as we’ve already seen once this 12 months with the likes of Arman Tsarukyan punching a fan.
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