An MMA fighter has been hit with a lifetime ban from the Hard Fighting Championship after he was filmed kicking a ring girl.
Ali Heibati took on Arkady Osipyan at the Hardcore MMA tournament in Moscow but before the bout started he bizarrely took aim at the ring card girl.
MORE HERE: 🚨 Ebanie Bridges makes X-rated claim about fans amidst Conor McGregor links
You can watch the video below:
NEW: Iranian MMA fighter gets jumped after his fight after kicking a ring girl and allegedly sucker punching his opponent.
Bare-knuckle fighter Ali Heibati "found out" after a Moscow fight on Friday.
After taking a cheap shot against the ring girl, his opponent and a… pic.twitter.com/T3R98bWZPM
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 22, 2024
Things didn’t get much better for the Iranian fighter as his fight ended after just 30 seconds in the first round.
Following the fight it appears he was also ‘jumped’ by fans in the arena.
Heibati has now posted an apology to the ring girl, who is named Maria:
He wrote: “Hello everyone. This is for Maria. I didn’t act right with her. The reason was that before the MMA fight there were a lot of fistfights. I stayed there in the cage and I just wanted to go out and fight
“I was tense and, as most understand, emotions flourish in the fight, so before the fight I acted badly towards María. I want to publicly apologise to her. I am a married man, so I respect the female gender. She was doing her job and I, after the fight, didn’t admit my guilt either, because they also hit me on the head. Tell María that I am sorry.”
Claire Louise Morton lives for bbc