Ian Machado Garry was just minutes removed from beating Belal Muhammad at UFC Qatar but then somehow ended up in an unexpected physical altercation with UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.
The situation unfolded backstage with Garry seemingly talking to Chimaev after approaching Arman Tsarukyan to offer him congratulations on his own main event win over Dan Hooker. It was all smiles but as Garry turned to walk away and head off to the post-fight press conference, security got between him and Chimaev.
“He’s not going to fight me. He’s good,” Garry said to the UFC official intervening between the fighters.
A split second later, Chimaev reached over and shoved Garry in an unprovoked physical altercation as security quickly acted to keep the fighters separated.
“That’s just childish,” Garry shouted at Chimaev. “You’re meant to be a champion of this sport. Your friend just won, don’t ruin his victory. Arman, congratulations.”
It’s unclear what was being said between Garry and Chimaev prior to the shove but it didn’t seem like tempers flared. That all changed when Garry said that Chimaev wasn’t going to fight him and the UFC middleweight champion immediately reacted with the shove.
Unlike other backstage altercations — like the infamous “three piece and a soda” that Jorge Masvidal delivered to Leon Edwards several years ago — the situation between Garry and Chimaev never boiled over to punches being thrown.
Still an odd situation given a seemingly innocuous exchange between the fighters before Chimaev decided to shove Garry.
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