Khamzat Chimaev vs Dillon Danis Brawl Doesn’t Deviate RAF From ‘Family-Friendly Combat Sports’ Vision, Says Eric Bischoff

Eric Bischoff says the Khamzat Chimaev v Dillon Danis brawl won't derail RAF's family-friendly combat sports vision and future plans.

Khamzat Chimaev vs Dillon Danis Brawl Doesn’t Deviate RAF From ‘Family-Friendly Combat Sports’ Vision, Says Eric Bischoff

Eric Bischoff doubles down on a family-friendly RAF after brawl between Khamzat Chimaev and Dillion Danis [via Bloody Elbow and Yahoo Sports]

Khamzat Chimaev showed in his RAF debut that he is as terrifying as ever after his bout with Dillon Danis devolved into a vicious brawl almost immediately after starting. Things got really bad at RAF 10 as security had to intervene to ensure the safety of the participants. Despite the chaos, however, RAF’s chief media officer Eric Bischoff insists that they will maintain their “family-friendly” product.

The main event of RAF 10 in St. Louis featured Chimaev taking on Danis in a freestyle wrestling contest at Chaifetz Arena. Chimaev wasted little time asserting himself, securing an early takedown before maintaining dominant top control.

As such, the matchup was over almost as soon as it began, with Chimaev earning a first-period fall in less than a minute. Even so, the brief contest proved to be only the beginning of the night’s drama.

The situation quickly unraveled once the bout had been stopped as Danis appeared to hold onto Chimaev for a moment after the finish.

‘Borz’ responded promptly with a kick, and Danis answered in kind. Soon, tensions boiled over, with members of both camps storming onto the mat, turning the confrontation into a chaotic melee. Security personnel eventually stepped in to separate those involved.

RAF executives Eric Bischoff and Chad Bronstein addressed the insanity following Chimaev v Danis at the post-fight presser.

Look, we’re committed to being family-friendly combat sports. There’s such goodwill in the sport of wrestling across the boards. That’s what we want to nurture. That’s what we want to grow. What we saw tonight was not what we want to grow and it’ll be addressed going forward. So, we’ll stay true to our brand and the culture that we want to use to grow this company and what you saw tonight in the main event.

Eric Bischoff via RAF 10 presser

This is not the first time a UFC fighter has incited chaos at an RAF event. Khamzat Chimaev’s training partner and friend, Arman Tsarukyan, also got into it with his opponent, Georgio Poullas after their match.

The two later settled things with an assist from Nina Drama. That said, Tsarukyan still found himself in other controversies at RAF like when he pushed Urijah Faber off the stage at RAF 08.

Nonetheless, the Armenian has continued to be a huge star for the promotion. He even joked about adding $100 million to their valuation through his appearances. However, despite the attention situations like these bring to the promotion and the sport, both Bischoff and Goldstein remarked that they were wary about encouraging such chaos at future events.

While it appears that every party involved in this scuffle got away relatively unscathed, things could have gone down very differently.

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Alternate angle shows RAF security tackling Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev showed at the UFC 328 face-offs that he is not someone who limits his violence to the cage or mats. Despite being scheduled to fight Sean Strickland later in the week, he kicked the American downlow as they faced off in Newark for their title fight. This latest RAF brawl was a perfect example of the Chechen’s impulsiveness.

Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev (via Yahoo Sports)

A simple taunt from Danis was all it took to set off the former middleweight champion this time around. However, with so many people jumping into the scuffle, it became nearly impossible to tell what was going on.

A new camera angle has shown how close ‘Borz’ came to landing a blow on Conor McGregor‘s former BJJ coach before being thwarted by security.

The former middleweight champion can be seen sneaking up on Dillon Danis in the video. Just when it appears that Chimaev is about to strike, he is tackled and subdued by security personnel.

His lightning quick victory and the explosive brawl afterward certainly made this a memorable RAF debut for Khamzat Chimaev. Even so, the former champion’s UFC future remains ambiguous after he confirmed wanting to regain the middleweight belt rather moving up a division.

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