Mixed martial arts (MMA) has already gone off the rails outside the cage in 2023.
Footage surfaced today (Weds., Jan. 4, 2023) of what is alleged to be No. 9-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight contender, Ilia Topuria, and Spanish singer, Omar Montes, getting into a bar altercation. The video can be watched in the embedded player above.
No details regarding the location of the incident are known at this time.
The man believed to be Topuria in the video can be seen playing an arcade game, minding his own business before being approached by someone, standing alongside who is allegedly Montes. There is no sound attached to the video, but presumably, words were exchanged as Topuria is seen being pushed before briefly ignoring the situation and then attacking the man with an onslaught of punches. It took several patrons to come over and pull apart the scuffle as another fight broke out between others behind the incident.
Topuria recently earned the biggest win of his career at UFC 282 in Dec. 2022. Facing Bryce Mitchell in the opening bout on the main card, Topuria utilized his superior striking and strong grappling defense to shut Mitchell down. Ultimately, the Georgian scored the win via a second-round arm-triangle choke submission (watch highlights).
The win over Mitchell was the 13th straight for the surging undefeated Topuria and his fifth in UFC. “El Matador” has his sights set on a big fight in his next outing, potentially against someone like two-time title challenger, Brian Ortega. Topuria may have to wait even longer for such a possibility depending on if there are any ramifications following this alleged incident, however.