Ranked UFC middleweights Marvin Vettori and Brendan Allen were involved in a physical altercation at a casino following a Professional Fighters League event that took place in Florida on Friday night.
Vettori and Allen, both of whom often train in the state, attended the PFL 8 event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Following its conclusion, the pair got into a fight in the middle of the casino.
Videos on social media show Allen stepping in and throwing multiple punches at Vettori before the pair crash into a roulette table and are separated.
Alex Behunin of MMA Mania reported the altercation began when Vettori allegedly “tried to swing at (UFC light heavyweight fighter) Tuco Tokkos and missed. (UFC veteran) Michael Johnson then moved everyone out of the way and then Brendan Allen stepped in and hit Vettori with a 1-2.”
No apparent injuries were sustained during the confrontation.
It is unclear at this time whether there will be any repercussions for Vettori or Allen.
UFC president Dana White did however make sure to jump into the comments section and take a jab at a rival mixed martial arts organization, quipping in a reply on X that the casino brawl: “Had to be fight of the night if it was at PFL.”
This, of course, is not the first time two UFC athletes have gotten into a physical altercation outside the cage or even at a rival organization’s event.
Flyweights Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape got into a fight at the fighter hotel ahead of their UFC 304 bout just last month.
Nate Diaz, Khabib Nurmagomedov and their teams notably got into a brawl at a World Series of Fighting event in 2015 that spilled into the lobby of a Planet Hollywood.
Vettori and Allen were scheduled to fight each other earlier this year in April — in a sanctioned main event bout at the UFC Apex — but Vettori withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Chris Curtis.
Vettori, 30, is the No. 6-ranked contender in the UFC’s 185-pound division. He previously fought for the middleweight title in 2021, losing a unanimous decision to former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 263, and has gone 2-2 with alternating wins and losses since then.
Allen is ranked one spot behind Vettori at No. 7. The 28-year-old has won seven in a row, is coming off a split decision win over Chris Curtis and currently has a Sept. 28 fight scheduled with Nassourdine Imavov.