The exact footage of what happened backstage before the start of the UFC 279 press conference has begun to emerge, with a new video showing Khamzat Chimaev and Kevin Holland briefly engaging in physical contact before they were officially restrained.
UFC broadcast partner ESPN released the video on Saturday, hours after Chimaev and Holland faced off in joint headlines at the event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Despite official best efforts to separate Chimaev and Holland, Chimaev appears to kick Holland before they part, pushing him back.
“Now say something,” Chimayev said. “Fuck you, b.”
“You’re not that fucking life, boy,” Holland replied. “You don’t care about it.”
Holland later appeared at the press conference and sidestepped the media about what happened when UFC president Dana White announced the shock question. d There was some type of brawl in the background. White later called off the gathering, citing safety concerns. Nate Diaz and his camp members.
Chimayev’s coach later said his boxer gave Holland “a boot in the chest”, which appears to be backed up by new footage.
This is not the first time Chimaev and Holland have met. The pair got into an altercation at UFC Vegas 21 and exchanged footage on social media and in interviews, before allegedly making physical contact during the UFC 279 press conference.
Less than 24 hours later, after Chimayev was severely weightless in a fight with Diaz, the two were awarded a deal to settle the dispute in the Octagon The chances that sparked a last-second shuffle pitted him against Holland and Diaz with Tony Ferguson.
White told reporters that none of the fighters involved in the brawl would be subject to any disciplinary action for promotion and that there were no Nevada Athletic personnel at the press conference . The committee has the power to punish these fighters, as Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier did after their infamous spat at the UFC 178 press conference.
