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After the UFC 279 backstage brawl, which resulted in the cancelation of the pre-fight press conference, Dana White thanked former fighter turned manager Tiki Ghosn for being instrumental in de-escalating the situation.
Tiki Ghosn is a former mixed martial artist who is currently the owner of Arsenal Sports Agency. The Lebanese-born American primarily competed in the welterweight and lightweight divisions during his fighting days.
The 45-year-old's pro-MMA career spanned eleven years and saw him fight for promotions, including the UFC, Strikeforce, World Extreme Cagefighting, King of the Cage, and more. The fighter has a pro-MMA record of 11 wins against 7 losses and 1 draw.
Watch Tiki Ghosn vs. Robbie Lawler below:
Ghosn made his UFC debut against Bob Cook at UFC 24. The American lost the bout via second-round submission. His UFC record stands at 0-4. It's safe to say that he found success in the fighter management arena.
Arsenal Sports Agency boasts an elite clientele such as former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson, No.2 ranked UFC featherweight Yair Rodriguez, and former three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen, among others.
Speaking to the press regarding the incident, Dana White had only words of praise for Tiki Ghosn:
"If it wasn't for Tiki, we would have been in trouble.... Tiki took a couple for the team and he's not even on the team... Tiki took a couple of water bottles to the head, a couple of slaps, kicks. Thanks Tiki."
Watch Dana White thank Tiki Ghosn below:
What incident made Dana White cancel the UFC 279 press conference?
The cancelation of the UFC 279 pre-conference marks the first time a pre-fight presser has been canceled in the promotion's history.
Speaking to the media after the cancelation of the media event, Dana White revealed that multiple brawls involving four fighters on the card were what ultimately led to the cancelation of the event:
“There were multiple things going on at the same time. It wasn’t just one thing that erupted and it happened. There were multiple things going on at the same time... Yeah there were four, there were four [fighters] of them involved”
The UFC president confirmed that an altercation between Kevin Holland and Khamzat Chimaev started the backstage brawl. White elaborated that a lack of adequate security presence made the situation worse.
According to a report by MMA Fighting, the brawl started when Chimaev kicked Holland backstage. The report elaborated that a second altercation erupted between Chimaev's and Nate Diaz's camps once Holland went onstage to start the press conference.
Ariel Helwani uploaded a video to shed some light on the situation based on the information he received.
See the post below:
In the wake of the event's cancelation, the UFC president vowed to increase security at all the upcoming pre-fight press events.
