UFC president Dana White has issued a lifetime ban to Dillon Danis after the main card at UFC 232 was delayed by a massive ringside brawl involving Conor McGregor's former teammate and other high-profile names.
Danis, who was the main training partner for McGregor ahead of his decision win over Nate Diaz in 2016, was in attendance at Saturday night's annual show in New York.
The card was stacked with some much-anticipated fights, including the main event involving Islam Makhachev, but before Benoit Saint Denis and Beneil Dariush kicked off the final five fights of the evening, a huge brawl broke out.
As seen in the footage below, several people in the Madison Square Garden crowd were seen pushing and shoving.
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In fact, jiu-jitsu world champion Danis could be seen getting physical with members of Khabib Nurmagomedov's entourage, including Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Magomed Zaynukov, who threw punches at Danis, as per Bloody Elbow.
Danis was escorted out of the premises by security and, after Islam Makhachev defeated Jack Della Maddalena by unanimous decision to be crowned the new welterweight champ, a frustrated Dana White offered his take on the situation.
Speaking in his post-event press conference, White took full responsibility for the brawl before issuing a lifetime ban to Danis.
"I blame myself for that, actually," White said after being asked about the brawl.
"They came back and told me right before I walked out for the main card that Dillon Danis was here, and he was moving around, sitting in fighter seats and not sitting in his own seat that he had a ticket [for].
"They said, 'You want us to throw him out of here? And I said, 'He has a ticket?' And they said, 'Yeah, [Jorge] Masvidal said he's going to f--- him up on sight.' And I said, 'Well, where's Masvidal sitting?'
"He said, 'Well he's six or seven rows away from Masvidal.' I said, 'Well, if the guy has a ticket, let him sit in his seat and let him do what he's doing and keep an eye on him.'
"It never even crossed my mind, as stupid as this could be, that the entire Muslim Brotherhood was here tonight in the first five rows for Islam, and as soon as it broke out, I was over on the other side, and I go, 'f---, I know exactly what that is,' I knew it."
White confirmed it will be the last time Danis is welcome at a UFC event.
"You will never see Dillon Danis at a UFC fight ever again," he said. "You'll never see him at another fight."
White added: "So they called me from downstairs and said, 'We got him down here if you want to press charges and have him arrested.' And I said, 'No.' It's just the fight business, man, you know how I feel about this s---. And I could have prevented this tonight, and I messed up."
Topics: UFC, Dana White
Jack Kenmare