MMA fighters are used to trash-talking during press conferences in order to generate interest for their upcoming fights, however, in the Hardcore Fighting Championship, fighters took the actual fight to the stage.
The Russian bare-knuckle boxing promotion was holding a press conference for their upcoming event when fighter Javid Rzayev appeared on camera with a microphone and began trash-talking one of the fighters. His opponent got up from his seat and approached Rzayev. After saying a few words back and forth, he struck Rzayev with a right hook that knocked him out.
Rzayev needed assistance getting back to his feet as the other fighters looked on from their seats in disbelief at what had just transpired. It seems odd that there wasn’t any security present, especially considering that a fighter, who clearly wasn’t supposed to be there, managed to interrupt things the way he did.
This isn’t the first time this has happened in the promotion, as they have become somewhat known for fights breaking out during press conferences.
Check out another brawl that broke out:
With that in mind, there were some on social media that felt it was a staged publicity stunt, but the promotion announced that the fighter who struck Rzayev would be disqualified from his bout. Regardless of whether it is boxing, kickboxing, MMA, or any other combat sports promotion, it’s not a good look when fights take place for free during a publicity event.
Although fans are accustomed to press conferences featuring fighters only verbally sparring, there have been a few fights that have broken out in top MMA promotions like the UFC.
One of the biggest fights that took place during a press conference was between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier. At the time, the two were involved in a bitter rivalry, and as they faced off for a media photo-op, Cormier shoved Jones, which resulted in an all-out brawl between the two. Jones later retained his light heavyweight championship via unanimous at UFC 182.
Another fight that took place during a UFC press conference was between Kevin Lee and Michael Chiesa. The altercation took place after ‘The Motown Phenom’ made a comment about Chiesa’s mother having tickets to the event. The comment angered ‘Maverick’, leading to them rushing at each other and Lee even landing a punch before security quickly stepped in.
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