UFC's Marvin Vettori tries to fight in hotel lobby after opponent pulls out of event for medical reasons
A canceled fight for Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night led to a heated hotel lobby confrontation when the scheduled combatants crossed paths.
Middleweight Marvin Vettori was visibly livid with opponent Karl Roberson after Roberson was pulled from their scheduled fight due to reported issues with a rough weight cut. Roberson had previously missed weight for the fight, which meant 20 percent of his purse would have gone to Vettori.
Nutritionist Matteo Capodaglio captured the incident on video, in which Vettori can be seen repeatedly challenging and threatening Roberson.
Warning, approximately every third word in the following video is a profanity.
“He kept the same energy”@MarvinVettori met Karl Roberson as he was leaving the hotel.@MMAjunkie @MMAFighting @arielhelwani pic.twitter.com/HSIn3tGgcP
— Matteo Capodaglio (@DrCapodaglio) May 13, 2020
As much as Vettori might have believed Roberson looked healthy, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reports that Roberson had to be hospitalized the previous evening and was deemed not medically fit to fight.
Compounding the frustration for Vettori is the scheduled Roberson fight had already been delayed. The two were initially scheduled to face off on April 25 until the event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Without Vettori-Roberson, Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night will proceed in Jacksonville with 10 scheduled fights headlined by Anthony Smith vs. Glover Teixeira.
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