Fabricio Werdum Served With Assault Charges For Boomerang Incident

It looks like Colby Covington wasn’t kidding when he said he planned to press charges on UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum for (allegedly) throwing a boomerang at him in Sydney, Australia, yesterday. News arrived this evening from The New South Wales police force’s official website (via MMA Junkie) that the former UFC heavyweight champ would face […]

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It looks like Colby Covington wasn’t kidding when he said he planned to press charges on UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum for (allegedly) throwing a boomerang at him in Sydney, Australia, yesterday.

News arrived this evening from The New South Wales police force’s official website (via MMA Junkie) that the former UFC heavyweight champ would face court for the assault:

A man will face court after he allegedly assaulted a man with a boomerang yesterday.

About 1.30pm (Thursday 16 November 2017), a 40-year-old man and a 29-year-old man became involved in an altercation outside a hotel on George Street, Sydney.

The incident escalated when the 40-year-old man allegedly threw a bag containing the boomerang at the other man, which hit him in the neck.

Officers from Sydney City Local Area Command were later alerted to the incident and commenced investigations.

Following inquiries, a 40-year-old man was issued with a Field Court Attendance Notice for common assault.

He is expected to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday 13 December 2017.

Neither man required medical treatment following the incident.

Werdum’s possible punishment for the incident, which began when Covington allegedly starting mouthing off by repeating his oft-cited slurs against Brazilians and kicked Werdum in the leg, is currently unknown. UFC featherweight Dan Hooker caught the incident on tape on his phone and posted it on Twitter.

Covington also began filming the incident on his phone towards the end of the snafu, where he was heard calling Brazilians “filthy” animals and hurling a homophobic slur on his own video.

But with this incident now involving an actual arrest following his highly-publicized UFC 216 media lunch standoff with Tony Ferguson where he threw several homophobic slurs of his own (for which he has yet to be punished), Werdum certainly isn’t doing himself  – or the UFC – any favors.

The promotion has stated they are looking into the incident to determine if violated the UFC Athlete Code of Conduct, and with charges now filed, there’s a good chance that it did.

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Colby Covington Plans To Press Charges On Fabricio Werdum

If you thought rising UFC welterweight Colby Covington’s antics couldn’t get more over-the-top, you were wrong. Three weeks after the No. 3 challenger called out the entirety of Sao Paulo, Brazil after defeating hometown fan favorite Demian Maia, Covington made headlines today when former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum hit him with a boomerang in […]

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If you thought rising UFC welterweight Colby Covington’s antics couldn’t get more over-the-top, you were wrong.

Three weeks after the No. 3 challenger called out the entirety of Sao Paulo, Brazil after defeating hometown fan favorite Demian Maia, Covington made headlines today when former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum hit him with a boomerang in Sydney, Australia for this weekend’s UFC Fight Night 121.

Rapidly becoming one of the more notorious trash talkers in the UFC, Covington took offense to Werdum’s attack, later revealing that he planned on pressing charges on “Vai Cavalo” in a message to MMA Fighting because the incident was caught on tape:

“He f*cked up,” Covington said. “There’s video and I speak the truth. He will be exposed soon, probably end up in Australia prison.”

Here’s the video of the incident posted by New Zealand featherweight Dan Hooker:

There was also more violence supposedly involved, as Covington said Werdum punched him in the face during the altercation, which Werdum, who will meet Marcin Tybura in the UFC Sydney main event this weekend, said was false.

Covington not surprisingly denied this, stating that the truth would soon come forth due to the video of the incident:

“That’s a complete lie. He wrote a check his ass can’t cash. He’s on video so all his lies will be told soon.”

But even though it would seem to be Werdum’s fault from Covington’s point of view, he may have to fess up to at least part of the blame himself. The brash wrestler began filming towards the end of the melee on his phone, where he called Werdum an anti-gay slur and continued his stark anti-Brazil trash talk:

“F*ck Brazil. F*ck Fabricio Werdum, little bitch ass. F*ck Brazil. A bunch of filthy animals. And they wonder why they get talked to like that, because they’re a bunch of animals.”

Covington may be pressing charges on the assumption he was assaulted, which the above video does show. However, for those stating that his trash talk is not the grounds for physical assault, Werdum accused him of kicking him in the leg first, so it may come down to hearsay and what evidence the video shows.

The UFC quickly released a brief statement stating they were looking into the matter to find out if the UFC Athlete Conduct Policy had been violated:

“UFC was made aware of the altercation between Fabricio Werdum and Colby Covington at the organization’s host hotel in Sydney, Australia,” the statement read. “The organization will conduct a full investigation to determine if the Athlete Conduct Policy was violated before taking any further action on this matter.”

Overall, it’s simply not a good look for either Covington or Werdum.

The rising welterweight continues to make inflammatory statements about the Brazilian people based solely on their heritage, and while it may land him a big fight and a lucrative position as one of the UFC’s most hated heels, it’s also crossing the line of acceptable trash talk and making fighters look barbaric, especially when he used another anti-gay slur.

As for Werdum, it could be even worse, as the veteran was seen throwing several homophobic slurs of his own at Tony Ferguson during their UFC 216 luncheon incident, for which Werdum apologized and was supposedly headed to do outreach in the LGBTQ community. He’s since said he received no punishment, however, and these two incidents combined with Conor McGregor’s use of the same word backstage at October 21’s UFC Gdansk make the UFC and MMA look bad as a whole.

Are these run-ins helping foster interest in the sport, or are they simply making fighters look like ignorant brutes who can’t remain professional?

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Dana White Releases Open Letter Addressing Mark Hunt’s Removal

UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt was irate when the promotion removed him from his scheduled main event versus Marcin Tybura at November 18’s UFC Fight Night 121 from Sydney, Australia, earlier this month, a move he said would cost him upwards of $1 million dollars. Hunt lashed out at UFC President Dana White, claiming he was perfectly […]

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UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt was irate when the promotion removed him from his scheduled main event versus Marcin Tybura at November 18’s UFC Fight Night 121 from Sydney, Australia, earlier this month, a move he said would cost him upwards of $1 million dollars.

Hunt lashed out at UFC President Dana White, claiming he was perfectly fit and healthy to compete, but had been removed due to his ongoing lawsuit against the UFC, White, and Brock Lesnar in conjunction with UFC 200. But White cited an interview Hunt did with Australian publication Players Voice where the longtime knockout artist admitted he was slurring his words, having trouble sleeping, and losing his memory.

Hunt was replaced by former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum.

The situation seemed set if not exactly resolved, but now, White has explained himself even further in an open letter penned to The Daily Telegraph where he revealed Hunt had never been cleared to fight as he claimed.

Read the full letter right here:

Mark Hunt was never “cleared” to fight Marcin Tybura in Sydney, Australia this November. Period. And the statements he’s been making, saying that he is, are just not true.

Let me tell you what I know.

Mark Hunt recently wrote an op-ed piece for an Australian website that described some serious symptoms.

He wrote that he’s starting to stutter and slur his words.

He wrote that he’s not sleeping well.

He wrote that he can’t remember something he did yesterday.

These are his words, from him, but now he’s saying it was taken out of context. How can you take your own words out of context? So you know what I did? My team contacted his management within the first week of learning about these symptoms and offered to fly him to Las Vegas first class to visit the Lou Ruvo Brain Center — which is the best in the world for brain research — to get more tests done. And you know what? He absolutely refused.

How can I put a guy with these symptoms he said he’s experiencing immediately back in the Octagon without additional tests? I definitely wasn’t going to do that. So I did the only thing I could do — which is to pull him off an event that would have him fighting just nine weeks after writing his piece so he can have the proper time to see a specialist. Let me remind you that this is an event I already had signed contracts for and spent a lot of money marketing and advertising, so this was a big loss. But it was the right thing to do.

So here we are now. After all of this, Mark is saying that I have it out for him and I am holding a grudge because he filed a lawsuit. Let me ask you this:

Would I have placed him in two additional fights, including one in which he headlined the event?

Or paid him 1.645 million dollars, which includes a $50k Fight of the Night bonus and a $25k discretionary bonus?

All of this was AFTER the lawsuit, so how can anyone say I have any issues with this guy?

Bottom line, my job is to put on the best fights in the world and part of that is to protect these guys from themselves. I get it, they’re fighters and they want to fight. But this only works if safety comes first, and that’s always been my goal — to provide a level playing field and a safe, regulated environment for our fighters to compete in. I’ve been doing that for almost 20 years and I’m not going to stop now.

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Mark Hunt: Being Pulled From UFC Sydney Will Cost Me Over $1 Million

It’s well documented that Mark Hunt’s relationship with the UFC hasn’t been perfect over the last few years, and it doesn’t seem to be improving. A few weeks ago, Hunt was pulled by the UFC from his scheduled main event bout with Marcin Tybura at the upcoming UFC Sydney card. The promotion cited health concerns […]

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It’s well documented that Mark Hunt’s relationship with the UFC hasn’t been perfect over the last few years, and it doesn’t seem to be improving.

A few weeks ago, Hunt was pulled by the UFC from his scheduled main event bout with Marcin Tybura at the upcoming UFC Sydney card. The promotion cited health concerns as the reason for pulling Hunt after “The Super Samoan” revealed health issues he’s been dealing with in a piece he wrote for the Player’s Voice.

Hunt, however, recently said that he’s passed all his medicals, and he feels as if he should be able to fight. He also said that he’s going to be losing quite a bit of money due to the UFC’s decision:

“A journalist rings me up and says, ‘You’re not fighting in Sydney,” Hunt told ESPN recently. “I had to check to see if it was true. I was really upset by that. I’ve lost a lot of money on this camp, and losing this fight will cost me over $1 million. I had plans for that money. I have taxes to pay. To hear it from a journalist – they could have called me themselves.

“And the thing is, I didn’t know why they pulled me. I still don’t. I’ve passed all the medicals. I’d like to know the reason I’ve been put on the sideline.”

Continuing on, Hunt listed a few other choices the UFC has made that he feels could be labeled as questionable, while once again indicating that he should have been able to compete in Australia:

“There’s nothing in the results that says I can’t fight. . . The UFC says they’re acting for my well-being; why did they put me in the Octagon with all these cheaters, then? Why are they letting Georges St-Pierre fight again when he’s talked about seeing aliens? They just let a guy fight with a staph infection last week. If they’re worried about our well-being, why did they do all that?”

In regards to the ‘cheaters’ he mentioned, Hunt is currently suing the UFC, Dana White and Brock Lesnar due to the fact that Lesnar failed a drug test surrounding their UFC 200 bout.

Do you agree with Hunt, or did the UFC make the right decision?

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Mark Hunt Destroys Dana White For UFC Fight Night 121 Removal

Heavyweight fan favorite Mark Hunt’s ongoing war with the UFC just got taken to a new level. “The Super Samoan” was set to fight Marcin Tybura in the main event of November 18’s UFC Fight Night 121 from Sydney Australia, but was removed from the card by the promotion today due to supposed “medical concerns” […]

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Heavyweight fan favorite Mark Hunt’s ongoing war with the UFC just got taken to a new level.

“The Super Samoan” was set to fight Marcin Tybura in the main event of November 18’s UFC Fight Night 121 from Sydney Australia, but was removed from the card by the promotion today due to supposed “medical concerns” and replaced by former champ Fabricio Werdum, who will make a quick turnaround to fight Tybura after fighting at last weekend’s UFC 216.

Hunt wasn’t buying it, however, as he posted on Instagram that although the ‘medical reasons’ were him admitted he had began slurring his words in a recent interview, he was actually removed from the main event fight due to his ongoing lawsuit against the UFC, Dana White, and Brock Lesnar for Lesnar’s failed USADA drug tests in conjunction with his smothering win over Hunt at July 2016’s UFC 200:

“I’m disappointed that I have been withdrawn from the fight, I have passed all medicals 2 days ago. And spent 100,000 on camp. The truth is the legal case I have filed has caused me to be withdrawn. The interview has been taken out of context and want to reassure all my fans, I slur my words only when I have a drink I’m fit and healthy, and would have understood if the UFC requested a medical to ensure my safety, however this is total bullshit fuck you Dana, you’ve always hated me you dog”

Hunt has been at extreme odds with the UFC ever since the loss to Lesnar, whom he claims was given special treatment and unfairly allowed to fight in the Octagon after receiving a waiver to avoid the usual six-month USADA testing return in order to compete in the UFC.

Prior to the bout, Hunt had said he knew Lesnar would come into the fight ‘juiced to the gills,’ but then reacted rather surprised when it was found that he actually was to the point of suing him and his employer.

A veteran knockout artist, Hunt is one of the more higher-paid heavyweights in the UFC, perhaps a deserved position after his consistently exciting and heavy-hitting bouts. Despite that, he’s been a longtime critic of the UFC’s business and an advocate for increased fighter pay.

Did the UFC do ‘The Super Samoan’ wrong here, or are they truly looking out for his health?

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