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UFC’s Dana White, MMA fighters react to Mike Tyson’s airplane punchout

mike
·7 min read
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Boxing legend Mike Tyson was embroiled in controversy on Thursday when video surfaced of him punching a man who was agitating him on an airplane.

Tyson was taking a Jet Blue flight from San Francisco to Florida on Wednesday (conveniently 4/20), when a fellow passenger reportedly harassed him for several minutes. The actions elicited a response from “Iron Mike,” who turned around and threw several punches and bloodied the man.

According to Tyson’s representatives, who issued a statement to USA TODAY Sports, the incident caught on video was essentially exactly what it appeared to be.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat,” the statement read.

The police also issued comment.

“On Wednesday April 20, 2022, at approximately 10:06 p.m., San Francisco Police officers assigned to the SFPD Airport Bureau were dispatched to a physical altercation onboard an airplane located at the Domestic Terminal of the San Francisco International Airport,” the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement. “Officers arrived and detained two subjects that were believed to be involved in the incident. One subject was treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries. That subject provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation. Both subjects were released … pending further investigation.

“The SFPD is aware of video that possibly captured the incident, which surfaced following the initial investigation. That video has been forwarded to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.”

The video sparked quite the commotion within the combat sports world. Several figures, from UFC president Dana White to many notable fighter sand personalities, shared their thoughts.

Check out the social media reactions below.

Dana White

USA TODAY Sports

Tito Ortiz

Kelvin Gastelum

Jack Shore

Arjan Bhullar

Joe Giannetti

Jimi Manuwa

Mike Jackson

Kay Hansen

Ben Rothwell

Terrance McKinney

Josh Barnett

Shayna Baszler

Paul Redmond

Thiago Moises

Nik Lentz

James Vick

Mike Wilkinson

Louis Smolka

Billy Quarantillo

Dustin Poirier

Jake Paul

Roque Martinez

David Onama

Montel Jackson

Joe Ellenberger

Josh Thomson

Diana Belbita

Georgi Karakhanyan

Mike Goddard

Jessica Eye

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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