'We’re probably gonna get sued': Dana White reacts to UFC fighter punching fan during prefight walkout

UFC lightweight Arman Tsarukyan appeared to punch an antagonizing fan during his walkout at UFC 300, prompting the UFC president to predict a future lawsuit for the company.

While the Armenian fighter put on a great show in his split-decision victory over the higher ranked Charles Oliveira, it was an interaction with a fan before the bout that caught the eye of fans and reporters.

Tsarukyan was on his way to the octagon at the historic UFC 300 in Las Vegas, Nevada, when he made a brief, two-second stop. During that stop the 155-pound fighter threw a punch into the crowd, confusing other attendees who threw their hands up to declare their innocence as the situation unfolded.

The interaction was so quick that it went undetected by the UFC's commentary team.

"He showed me 'f**k you' and he wanted to punch me and I wanted to punch him back," Tsarukyan told reporters after the fight.

A close look at the footage of the incident showed a fan in black appearing to give the middle finger to Tsarukyan, who then attempted to grab the fan, before throwing a punch that possibly landed on the audience member's arm. Las Vegas Metro Police were then seen quickly getting involved as Tsarukyan continued his walk out.

"That's it," Tsarukyan continued. "So guys, no one show me 'f**k you.' It doesn’t matter who you are, I’m going to punch you in the face. You can show me 'f**k' from like 200 meters, I'm not going to punch you. But when you're close to me, it's, like automatically, I'm from Russia. Don't do that, please, or I'm going to go to prison in U.S.," the fighter added.

During his own celebratory press conference, UFC President Dana White took questions about the fan incident in stride, opting to wait until the following Monday to make sense of the ordeal.

"Yeah, you may not want to hang over the things and grab people while they're walking out," White told reporters. "These guys are all f**king piped up and whatever. I'm sure, we’re probably gonna get sued. We'll deal with that on Monday too," he added.

Neither Tsarukyan nor White had made further comments regarding the incident as of the Monday morning following UFC 300. The fighter had simply stated that he was hoping to face the victor of the 155-pound title fight on June 1, 2024.

"I’m fighting the winner," he wrote on X.

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