A video began circulating on social media which showed an MMA fighter kicking a ring girl while she made her walk around the cage. The video shocked viewers who called for an immediate disqualification or ban from the sport. But it turns out there was more not caught on that video and it got much worse.
Iranian fighter Ali Heibati faced Arkady Osipyan at the Hardcore MMA tournament in Moscow on Friday night and received a lifetime ban from the Hard Fighting Championship after kicking the woman and then later sucker punching his opponent when the fight was over.
The first clip shows Heibati kicking the woman as she carries the Round 1 card signaling the start of the scheduled three-round fight. It got worse when Heibati lost by technical knockout in the first round. When the fight was called off, Heibati began landing several clean shots at his opponent as his back was turned. And still, it got worse. Several people jumped into the cage to separate the two and an all-out brawl including flying chairs happened in the audience. They finally calmed Heibati while they waited for the official results and hand-raising to happen.
Watch the full fight and incident right here.
๐ฑThe IRGC Basiji from Iran, Ali Heibati, was disqualified for life from a tournament in Russia (HFC MMA) after kicking a ring girl.
โ Iranian American ๐บ๐ธ๎จ (@IranLionness) April 22, 2024
Heibati kicked her because she was not respecting Sharia to wear a Hejab.
Ali also lost his fight against Arkadiy Osipyan, the Armenian fighter. pic.twitter.com/wAJnlWyIZ5
After Osipyan was declared the winner, Heibati then attacked the commentator throwing a high kick at his face before being escorted from the cage. It's a scene unlike anything we've ever seen.
It's worth noting that the ring girl didn't seem at all frightened by the clearly unhinged fighter. When he kicked her she turned and approached him without hesitation clearly not wanting to let the kick go un addressed. Get it girl!
According to Heibati's official Tapology record, he's got a 1-1 record in boxing, a 3-1 kickboxing record, and a 0-1 MMA record. There are also a few "mixed" or "modified" rules fights listed on his record and he won and lost one each. His last win was on March 29 at REN TV: Minakov vs Thompson where he defeated Artem Tarasov via a unanimous decision in a "modified rules MMA" fight.