Brian Rogers (L) vs. Andreas Spang (R)
Last Friday night (April 20, 2012) saw Andreas Spang step in as a late replacement for Bellator Season Six middleweight Bruno Santos, with Spang facing, and defeating, Brian Rogers in the tournament semifinals as part of the Bellator 66 event in Cleveland, Ohio.
On Monday, the Ohio State Athletic Commission announced that Spang was fined 20% of his purse over a shoving match with Rogers at the official weigh-ins. After Spang’s win in the cage he also got into a shoving match with the other Season Six Finalist Maiquel Falcao which ended with coaches and officials intervening before anything got too far out of hand.
Ohio Exec Berni Profato explained the fine, noting that it would not preclude Spang from participating in the final versus Falcao.
“Spang initiated the incident which was being televised, plus started an incident at the weigh-in with Rogers the night before. He was fined 20% of his pay and avoided any suspension so he is eligible for the next fight.”
“Falcao was pushed so hard he fell backwards and was grabbed by his camp and was stopped before any further issues could occur.”
“These kind of actions will not be tolerated with in Ohio. There are four requrements we ask – self respect, respect for your opponent, respect for the sport and those that promote and regulate the sport, and self discipline.”
(Quote courtesy of MMAWeekly.com)
Spang will be fined $6,000 by the Commission, which is 20% of his $30,000 purse ($15,000 to show and $15,000 win bonus).