Ilia Topuria couldn’t wait to get his hands on Justin Gaethje so he shoved the interim lightweight champion just seconds after their faceoff started ahead of the UFC White House card on Sunday.
What started as a respectful battle between two veterans has quickly turned personal as tensions finally boiled over after the pre-fight press conference on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Friday.
Almost immediately after the squared off, Topuria pushed Gaethje backwards with UFC CEO Dana White quickly stepping in between them to ensure the situation didn’t get any worse. White could be heard saying he wasn’t ready for that one and after the shove he refused to allow Topuria and Gaethje to come back together again.
For his part, Gaethje kept his cool and actually berated Topuria for shoving him on such a monumental stage like the card happening at the White House.
“You want to act like a f*cking animal?” Gaethje shouted at Topuria. “Like an emotional little animal.”
The chatter never stopped as Topuria held onto two UFC titles and he jabbed back at Gaethje that he’s coming into the fight as champion and leaving the exact same way.
“It’s mine boy,” Topuria said while showing off his title belts. “It looks much better on me.”
Topuria and Geathje were the only fighters to get physical on stage, although Alex Pereira received the biggest ovation for his faceoff with Ciryl Gane. Pereira also held up two belts and shouted his signature “Chama!” before exiting the stage.
Sean O’Malley also promised a knockout in his fight just a split second after he shared an intense faceoff with Aiemann Zahabi.
Check out the full faceoffs in the video above.
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