Khamzat Chimaev’s highly anticipated RAF debut ended in chaos after a brawl erupted on stage following his pinfall victory over Dillon Danis, but what does that mean for his future with the promotion?
That’s still to be determined because it turns out RAF CEO Chad Bronstein was actually in the middle of the melee trying to break apart members of Chimaev and Danis’ teams, who poured on the stage after the brawl broke out. Obviously, Bronstein was understandably upset that the brawl happened at all, but he’s undecided on what that means for Chimaev and Danis now that RAF 10 is over.
“I just have to review the situation,” Bronstein said at the RAF 10 post-match press conference. “Obviously you know me and Eric and the team, we’re in the show so I’m not reviewing film. I [wasn’t] able to see what occurred on the stage.
“I actually ended up being in the middle of it trying to make sure I subdue the situation, and I put myself in harm’s way to try to make sure nobody was getting hurt. Eric and myself, later on today, have to review the tape because I can’t really answer. That was not a good situation.”
The brawl exploded after Chimaev scored a pinfall victory early in the first period and it appeared that Danis was still holding onto his leg after the referee called the match. Chimaev then kicked Danis for not releasing his foot, and a second later, the fighters were going after each other with security desperately attempting to intervene.
Danis was fighting off members of Chimaev’s team while the former UFC middleweight champion was doing everything possible to go after the always outspoken grappler and frequent teammate to UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
This is the second brawl like this to happen at RAF after a similar melee unfolded when Arman Tsarukyan punched Georgio Poullas after winning a contentious, foul-filled match that included several fouls.
“I don’t think for what we do for wrestling this is what we want, right?” Bronstein said. “It should just stay on the stage. We talked to both of them prior to the match and said keep it all wrestling on the stage. There should not be anyone getting on that stage. The show was amazing before we got to that issue. The wrestling world deserves wrestling. That’s what we’re here to provide.
“No, we didn’t want that, as you probably know. We’re 10 shows in, we had it happen once, now two. We just have to make sure again that any of those matches happen, security’s even bigger so we don’t have that situation.”
Bronstein explained that RAF already upped security after that Tsarukyan vs. Poullas situation happened but clearly the measures weren’t enough to stop the brawl between Chimaev and Danis.
Eric Bischoff, who serves as RAF’s chief media officer, said he views RAF as family entertainment and a brawl like that breaking out on stage, especially in the main event, isn’t good for the promotion or the sport of wrestling.
“It will be addressed going forward,” Bischoff said. “We’ll stay true to our brand and the culture that we want to use to grow this company. 98% of what you saw knocked it out of the park for us. We were so proud all the way up until that point.
“We’ll address the issue, we’ll fix it, we’ll correct it, like any other sport, we’ll continue to grow.”
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