An MMA star has been handed a lifetime ban from the Hard Fighting Championship (HFC) after kicking a ring girl before his bout over the weekend.
Iranian fighter Ali Heibati faced Arkady Osipyan at the Hardcore MMA tournament in Moscow on Friday night.
Before the fight had even got underway, Heibati bizarrely stepped forward and kicked a ring girl in the derriere as she walked past holding up a card signalling that the opening round was about to start.
The woman turned around and was clearly taken aback by Heibati’s behaviour, approaching him to voice her disapproval before the referee stepped in to keep them apart and appeared to warn Heibati about his conduct.
The fight was allowed to start moments later, but it proved to be a short contest as Osipyan secured victory by technical knockout in the first round.
Ali Heibati aimed a king at a ring girl as she walked past before his fight on Friday
Heibati’s bout did not last long as he was stopped inside the opening round
Moments after losing, Heibati proceeded to rise to his feet and attack his opponent
His win was confirmed by the referee waving off the fight with just over 30 seconds left in the round as he determined Heibati was in no position to defend himself.
As the referee walked Osipyan back to his corner, Heibati rose to his feet and started attacking his opponent, landing multiple cheap shots while his back was turned.
He was quickly pulled away and several people got into the cage to separate the two men while they awaited the official verdict.
The drama wasn’t over there, as the two fighters took the microphone inside the cage afterwards.
Heibati seemed annoyed by something that was said to him and aimed another kick, this time at head height towards a commentator, before exchanging angry words with the man.
Further footage has emerged of Heibati then getting attacked by members of the crowd following his bout as he was pushed over some chairs and took several blows to the head.
Following his shameful actions, Heibati took to social media to apologise to the ring girl named Maria.
Heibati took the microphone after his fight and tried to kick a commentator, leading to him receiving a lifetime ban from HFC
‘Hello everyone. This is for Maria. I didn’t act right with her. The reason was that before the MMA fight there were a lot of fistfights. I stayed there in the cage and I just wanted to go out and fight,’ he said.
‘I was tense and, as most understand, emotions flourish in the fight, so before the fight I acted badly towards María.
‘I want to publicly apologise to her. I am a married man, so I respect the female gender. She was doing her job and I, after the fight, didn’t admit my guilt either, because they also hit me on the head. Tell María that I am sorry.’
Despite his apology, Heibati has still been hit with a lifetime ban from HFC.
He is not the first MMA star to lose his job after outrageous behaviour inside the cage, after Brazilian youngster Igor Severino was cut from the UFC last month for biting his opponent on his debut with the organisation.
Severino took a chunk out of his fellow Brazilian Andre Lima’s arm, and was disqualified before losing his job, and he subsequently revealed that he received death threats following his behaviour.
