The mayor was reportedly trying to sneak around traffic after the UFC’s latest PPV event, when he was stopped by an employee directing cars. From there things got a little heated.
Maybe it’s just something in the air surrounding a big combat sports event. The adrenaline of watching two highly trained fighters competing in the cage has a tendency to get the heart pumping and the mind buzzing. Or, maybe it’s like Dana White likes to say about the global popularity of mixed martial arts, that “fighting is in our DNA.”
Whatever the case it seems that the UFC’s recent trip to Glendale, AZ played host to some notable brouhaha outside the Octagon. That’s according to a report from azcentral.com after a man alleging to be a Gila River Arena employee showed up to a City Council meeting on Tuesday night to lodge a formal complaint against Mayor Jerry Weiers.
Robert Nejbauer Jr. recounted an incident that took place after the conclusion of UFC 263, with fans leaving a parking garage near the arena. One driver apparently got impatient amid the traffic backup and “whipped around the line and started speeding to the south entrance.”
Nejbauer claims he stepped in front of the vehicle to prevent it from leaving. After which, the driver rolled down the window and told him to “can the attitude. You don’t want to get started with me.” More barbs were traded back and forth, eventually resulting in the driver telling the arena employee to “eat shit and die.”
After the altercation, Nejbauer told the Glendale City Council that he later learned the driver had informed another employee at the garage exit that he wanted to see Nejbauer fired.
“I’m the mayor, I was about to get out of my car and kick his ass,” Nejbauer quoted, recounting what he was told were the driver’s words about the incident. Reportedly Mayor Weiers later reached out to the arena asking that they terminate Nejbauer’s employment, although it seems his request was refused.
“I wasn’t terminated, I wasn’t suspended,” Nejbauer told the City Council, adding that he’d happily meet Mayor Weiers at any boxing gym in the area. Unfortunately, azcentral.com reports that neither the Mayor nor Gila River Arena management could be reached for comment. Still, with the rash of celebrity boxing events, maybe Triller just found some new undercard fodder?