Video: Gun Fired in Air During Melee at Amateur MMA Event in Florida
An amateur mixed martial arts event got out of control in Florida this past Saturday.
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“Who knows what his thoughts were, if it was to diffuse the situation, but you can’t do that in the United States, especially at an event packed with fans, with people, you can’t shoot guns in the air,” Rize promoter Armando Gonzalez told NBC Miami.
According to the NBC Miami report, the fighting outside the cage
initially began because people didn’t like the officiating in one
particular bout.
“There was nowhere I could move, left or right there were altercations all over the place, it was chaotic. When I tried to get [away] from the mayhem, the woman threw the chair at me,” said John Rivera, who was serving as a judge at the event.
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating the identity of the man who fired the gun and have confirmed at least two shots were fired. No one was hit by the bullets and no arrests have been made, authorities said.
Meanwhile, former UFC and Bellator fighter Hector Lombard captured a different angle of the incident and posted video on Instagram.
“This guy just shot his handgun in the middle of a melee at an amateur show,” Lombard wrote. “Shameful and pathetic cowardly behavior ruined a great night of fights. We went undefeated great job to our champions.”
Gonzalez also released a statement via Facebook.
“We would like to thank all of our loyal fans and supporters for an amazing turn out Saturday evening. Our athletes put on incredible performances and an awesome display of sportsmanship. We had fighters travel from Texas, Tennessee, and Hawaii to show off their skills and entertain our Palm Beach fans. To the RIZE FC TEAM, you all did an spectacular job, we can’t THANK you enough!” he wrote.
“Unfortunately, our Saturday Night event came to an abrupt end due to unwelcomed and unacceptable behaviors of some of the attendants of the event. However we will not let these unfortunate incidents disrupt our promise to entertain local fight fans. We have been fortunate to have one of the safest fight events in the area. We at RIZE are dedicated and will continually focus on safety for all in attendance at our future events.”
