It would seem that the UFC security had to deal with more than just fight week altercations in Manchester last week...
The promotion was recently back across the pond to stage its return to Manchester, England, for the first time in close to a decade. The UFC 304 pay-per-view went down at the Co-op Live, with two title fights and a host of intriguing matchups playing out.
Even before fight night, some fighters couldn't keep their hands off one another. Early in fight week, videos came out showing opponents Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape coming to blows after the former landed a sucker-punch outside the fighter hotel.
And that evidently wasn't the only scrap UFC security had to deal with at the location.
Following the event, ex-UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski detailed another altercation in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel. While he didn't provide the names of those involved, he described his attempts to calm things down.
I don’t know if I should even bring it up. I don’t know; maybe I won’t bring it up. You guys are gonna hate me for that. I won’t say who was involved, but I’ll tell you a little bit," Volkanovski said. "Something happened in the lobby between two guys. One was a fighter; I don’t know if the other guy was a fighter. I don’t think he was random, but stuff happened.
There might have been a little punch thrown. The other guy tried to get to him. Security tried to stop it. I’m like, 'It’s not worth it, it’s not worth the cops.' I’m trying to stop it," Volkanovski continued. "Guys were stepping and getting around all the security guards. I was trying to help, but he stepped around me as well. I’m like, 'This guy has got some good movement.' He’s going again. I’m trying to tell him to 'chill out.' Again, he’s come on; I’ve tried to grab him. We almost ran into the bottom of the stairs, so we sort of went down. I fell to my knees. As I’m trying to hold him, he slipped out. I was like, 'This guy is very slippery.'
Now, the two fighters in question have seemingly been revealed after footage emerged of the incident.
Basharat, Page Get Into It At UFC 304 Fighter Hotel, Volkanovski Among Peacekeepers
This week, the @CasualsCorner_ account on X (formerly Twitter) posted a video showing an altercation at the fighter hotel in the aftermath of UFC 304 last weekend.
While the start of the confrontation was not shown, the footage appears to show security attempting to stop UFC bantamweight prospect Farid Basharat from getting at welterweight contender Michael "Venom" Page.
Among those attempting to prevent an all-out brawl is Volkanovski, who can even be seen shooting a takedown (unsuccessfully) in the hopes of stalling Basharat's progress.
Interestingly, Basharat has previously trained at the London Shootfighters gym in London, which is the longtime home of Page.
It's unclear what sparked the animosity between the pair. But in a comment posted on social media, Basharat accused "MVP" of throwing the first punch at the UFC 304 fighter hotel.