UFC president Dana White tried to continue the press conference by bringing the six fighters separately into two, per fight. But after Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez spoke to reporters and fans in attendance about their fight on the pay-per-view card, White pulled out of the event altogether. White said at a media briefing after the cancellation that the skirmishes were initiated by Khamzat Chimaev and Holland, who are not fighting each other Saturday night at UFC 279. Neither fighter required medical attention and according to White, none of the scheduled bouts on the card are in jeopardy. “It was a complete show,” White said. 2 Related Chimaev and Holland have been going back and forth on social media and in interviews for months. Sources told ESPN that Chimaev approached Holland backstage before Thursday’s press conference, resulting in some shoving and people trying to separate them before Chimaev hit Holland with a front kick. Chimaev was pulled by Li Jingliang, who fights Tony Ferguson on Saturday, and former MMA fighter and agent Tiki Ghosn, as well as security. White said it was good that Ghosn was there to help. Holland then gave chase as the two parted ways, sources said. Nate Diaz faces Chimaev in the main event of UFC 279. When members of Diaz’s team saw Ghosn with Chimaev, they thought Ghosn was part of Chimaev’s team and started yelling at him, according to sources. Sources said some members of Diaz’s team threw water bottles at Ghosn and Chimaev’s team. According to White, Ghosn was hit on the head by several water bottles and also received several slaps and kicks. “If it wasn’t for Tiki, we’d be in big trouble,” White said. “Tiki got a couple for the team and he wasn’t on the team.” White said press conferences will be more secure from here on out and that the UFC will be better prepared on Friday for the weigh-ins and Saturday’s fight night. No one will be disciplined, White said. “That’s what we do,” White said. “This is the business we’re in. This is the combat business. These things happen. What we’re doing is looking at how it happened today — why were we unprepared for it? Why couldn’t we manage this background better than we did? And we’ll be better next time we do a press conference. This will never happen to us again.”
