UFC 279 had a very truculent start to its press conference, when Kamzat Chimaev, Kevin Holland, and Nate Diaz got involved in a backstage altercation. Many compared this to Conor McGregor and the bus incident, where he threw a dolly at a bus carrying fighters.

UFC president, Dana White, had to cancel the press conference midway because the entire situation kept getting out of hand. 

MMA reporter, Aaron Bronsteter, revealed more details on his Twitter about the whole scenario. 

Journalist on comparison between UFC 279 altercation to the bus incident of Conor McGregor

The reporter wrote, “This isn’t comparable to the McGregor bus incident. No injuries and nobody will get arrested, but being backstage, it was clear these incidents were combustible situations that could have gone off the rails quickly. Thankfully, security and others did their part to diffuse things.”

More details chimed in when the famous MMA Journalist, Ariel Helwani took to his social media to share the reasons behind the altercation.

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Ariel Helwani breaks down the entire backstage story of UFC 279 brawl

Helwani on his Instagram said, “So here’s what happened about an hour or so ago in Las Vegas, prior to UFC 279 press conference.” He then went on to explain the complete story.

“Before going out (on the stage) there is Khamzat Chimaev and his team. There’s Kevin Holland and his team. They have been exchanging some words as of late, and they started to exchange some words. They got very close to each other and were a kind of pushing each other. No real physical activity, so to speak, like serious kicks or punches landed, but there was definitely some physicality, if you will.”

He then added how former MMA fighter turned manager, Tiki Ghosn, got in between Holland and Chimaev and broke them up. Helwani explained that there was no security and only a few police officers were present; however, Ghosn alone separated the two, despite so many angry fighters and teammates around him. 

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The Diaz angle came in when the Stockton native saw the manager standing with Chimaev. Helwani explained, “Nate and his team show up, and as the whole thing between Holland and Chimaev dies down. They see Tiki standing next to Chimaev. Nate and his team go along with Tiki and are kind of confused about that, and unhappy about that and the words exchanged.”

He further added, “Things exchange back-n-forth, and all of a sudden water bottles are being thrown and I guess there were some people who were upset about where Tiki was standing and the things that were being said back-n-forth.”

Helwani revealed that “Tiki got hit,” amidst the whole situation where bottles were being thrown. He also said that the case got out of hand; however ultimately everyone pulled apart, and the UFC decided to cancel the press conference 

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