UFC president Dana White blames his staff for letting Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards trade punches backstage after Saturday’s card in London.
Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards will walk away from their scuffle after UFC London without any punishment, according to UFC president Dana White.
White told Yahoo! Sports earlier this week that he blames his staff — not the two fighters — for not stopping Masvidal and Edwards from throwing punches at each other backstage following their Saturday wins over Darren Till and Gunnar Nelson, respectively.
“As soon as [Masvidal] started walking up the ramp with his hands behind his back, 10 people that work for the UFC should have jumped in there,” White said. “For anybody backstage and my staff to let these guys walk up to each other, it’s just ridiculous. … I’m super disappointed in my whole crew for that one.”
Masvidal was doing an interview backstage when Edwards entered the general vicinity, according to the video, and the two briefly began talking. Masvidal left the interview and moments later he was exchanging blows with the Brit. They were quickly separated. Edwards suffered a cut on his face, but otherwise no one was hurt.
White said he doesn’t blame Masvidal or Edwards for the incident, because they were “in the heat of the moment,” implying that neither fighter will get any sort of fine or suspension for the altercation.
“It’s the fight business,” White said. “Our job is to make sure these things happen onstage, behind the scenes, but sometimes it does. Sometimes things escalate and blow up.
“These people that fight for a living are different than normal people. These people function on a whole other level than normal human beings do. … They’re different. That’s why they’re professional fighters.”