Virtually denied a UFC bout on Sunday, some Melbourne pub-goers brought their own punch-up.
Following perhaps the shortest title bout in UFC history, with Ireland’s Conor McGregor taking the World Featherweight title from Brazilian Jose Aldo by knockout in just 13 seconds, a pratfall of patrons put on their own display.
A fired-up crowd of fight enthusiasts at ALH’s Manhattan Hotel shocked by the ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ match, sparked a push-and-shove that led to at least six men swinging punches.
Lasting seven times longer than the much-hyped belt defence by Aldo, video posted to Facebook showed enthusiastic participants adopting stances and pushing each other over. Security is not seen throughout the 1:47 video.
Victoria Police today confirmed to PubTIC that no charges were laid, as there were no complainants.
Despite no apparent connections from the would-be bruisers, no reported injuries and no-one staying around long enough to give a statement to police, the incident has been slammed by the AMA as justification for banning all cage fighting.
Leading provider of sports scheduling services for Australian pubs, and PubTIC partner site, Game On Live Sports, reports consistent interest in the sport, with UFC attracting 27 per cent of searches in the past month.
“Most people attending pubs to watch these main events appreciate what the UFC is: a highly skilled and entertaining sport,” says director Alex Antoniades.
“Over the past three years I have attended almost every UFC event, at various public bars, and have never seen a brawl like this. To blame the UFC for this one-off, drunken scuffle is, in my opinion, an uneducated, knee-jerk reaction.”
