A brawl broke out backstage Saturday between fighters Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards, after the UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena in London.
The melee broke out after Masvidal (33-13) knocked out Darren Till in the second round. Masvidal was giving a post-fight interview when he walked away from the mics, caught a glimpse of Edwards backstage, and suddenly began swinging, ESPN reported.
Masvidal landed a few blows on Edwards’s face, but the two were quickly separated, and the attack ended.
BACKSTAGE BEEF!😱
Masvidal attacks Edwards at UFC London shortly after his 2nd round KO victory against Darren Till!ὄ#UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/1qopULKN4p
— BOXINGCONNOISSEUR (@bxngconnoisseur) March 17, 2019
Reports say Edwards suffered a few cuts to the face under his left eye and was treated and released at the arena.
Sources also noted that the police talked to the two fighters in their hotel rooms.
The spat was likely spurred by Edwards who earlier in the night had said that he hoped to face Masvidal for his next fight. For his part, Masvidal hinted that Edwards said something to him as he left the stage just before their tussle.
“I’m doing my interview, and this hooligan comes by, saying stuff like, ‘July, you’ll get your ass kicked in July,’” Masvidal said. “I go, ‘Maybe. Whatever. Maybe I want to kick your ass in April. Maybe I don’t even want to fight you in the Octagon because it’s not worth a training camp, I’ll just fight you right here because you’re a scrub.’ I said, ‘Just say it to my face, like a man. You’re saying it as you walk away. We’re both men.’”
Masvidal added that he was not the attacker, but that Edwards started it.
“I had my hands back to signal I’m not coming here with problems. But he put his hands up — it’s on video — and walks towards me,” Masvidal continued. Well, where I’m from, you do that, you’re going to punch me in the face. And that’s not going to happen.”
Masvidal ultimately insisted that he was fearful that Edwards was going to attack so he struck out.
“I was scared,” Masvidal concluded. “It might not have looked it, because I’m cold-blooded, but I was scared out of my life. I said, ‘This hooligan is here and is going to assault me.’ He shouldn’t have done that and walked towards me like he was going to punch me. I got the first one in. Am I going to be in trouble because I got the first one in?”
An Edwards spokesman said that the fighter was “fine” after the attack but is considering filing assault charges.
UFC president Dana White scolded the fighters. “I can’t even believe that this happened.” he said adding, “We need to do a much better job of making sure this s— doesn’t happen at any of our events.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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