UFC fighter Dennis Buzukja is in hot water with the Nevada Athletic Commission stemming from an altercation between him and a crowd member at an event in December.
During a monthly commission hearing Tuesday in Las Vegas, Buzukja (12-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) was temporarily suspended for striking a crowd member on his way back to the locker room after cornering teammate Aljamain Sterling at UFC 310.
A decision on the matter will be tabled for a future commission meeting with terms of resolution determined in the meantime.
Buzukja and teammate Merab Dvalishvili were both restrained during the altercation. The crowd member, Arman Tugaev, was later identified to be someone with connections to the Nurmagomedovs, who rivaled Dvalishvili ahead of their Jan. 11 title fight. Dvalishvili indicated Tugaev deliberately provoked the altercation and grabbed his arm before Buzukja threw punches.
Days after the incident, Buzukja also commented on the altercation.
“I don’t know if he had touched Merab as we were walking in, but somehow he got Merab’s attention and then Merab went and tapped his shoulder and just gave him the finger, and then the guy gave him the finger back or whatever,” Buzujka said on “The Weekly Scraps” podcast with Sterling. “He got all jumpy.
“Then as the fight finished and we’re walking back on the other side, this f*cking guy comes across the whole crowd and then goes and, you’ve seen the video, he grabs Merab’s arm and then says something to him in, I guess Russian or whatever, and Merab started going crazy. Then we got into a little physical altercation, but that was really it. So hopefully no charges pressed and we move on.”
