The post-fight skirmish between Fabricio Werdum and Edmond Tarverdyan was an ugly sight, but that's where the story ends.
The Ohio Athletic Commission will not discipline anyone involved in the strange post-fight incident at UFC 203 in Cleveland, executive director Bernie Profato told MMA Fighting on Saturday night. Profato said he spoke with all involved and they apologized to the commission.
"Everyone left on a positive note," Profato said. "They said they respected the commission and assured this would never happen again."
After Werdum won a bizarre unanimous decision against Browne in the co-headliner, things got even weirder. While Werdum and Browne were waiting for announcer Bruce Buffer's official reading of the results, Tarverdyan, Browne's coach, began screaming and cursing at Werdum. Werdum and Tarverdyan walked toward each other and Werdum hit Tarverdyan in the hip with a push kick, getting into a fighting stance. They had to be separated.
Werdum said Tarverdyan, who also coaches Ronda Rousey, called him a "son of a b*tch" and a "mother f*cker" and he was not sure where it came from. The former UFC heavyweight champion said he was just trying to keep his distance with the kick. Werdum said in the post-fight press conference that he saw in the coach's eyes that he "wanted to punch my face."
Cooler heads eventually prevailed and Buffer read the announcements. Nothing further happened.
Werdum and Browne had words Thursday during their staredown at the pre-fight press conference. In the first round of their fight, Browne sustained a finger injury and backed away from the action only for Werdum to pounce and land a punch before referee Gary Copeland could call a pause in the action. In actuality, Werdum had every right to keep going, since there's no such thing as an injury timeout in MMA. It could have been called a TKO.
"He's a warrior," Werdum said afterward of Browne. "I respect him."
Profato also said that Jessica Eye and Bethe Correia both apologized for their weigh-in scuffle Friday and will not be sanctioned.
"We are satisfied both issues have been resolved in a positive manner," Profato said.