Mixed martial artist Ali Haverty has been suspended for life for assaulting a ring girl before a match.
The Iranian was competing in the Hard Fighting Championship promotion when the incident broke, The Sun reported.
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On Friday, he faced Arkady Osipian in Moscow as part of a hardcore MMA tournament.
Just before the match began, a ring girl named Maria entered the cage and signaled the start of the first round.
When she turned her back on him to get out of the cage, Haverty inexplicably kicked her away.
She then began to confront Haverty, who was reprimanded by the referee.
When the battle finally began, Osipian made light use of his opponent, who was clearly excited.
The Russian knocked out Haverty with just over 30 seconds left in the first round after landing a series of strikes on the ground.
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Osipian walked away towards his team after the win, but was then attacked by Haverty, who hit him with a series of cheap shots from behind and dragged him out.
Inexplicably, Haverty was allowed to remain in the cage at this point as the results were officially announced.
The beaten fighter put on his glasses and then took the microphone, clearly still furious.
Then, in blind rage again, he delivered a high kick at the commentator.
After the match, Haverty apologized to his ring girl on social media.
“Hello, everyone. This is for Maria. I did not act right towards her,” he wrote.
“The reason for that was there were a lot of fist fights before the MMA fight. I was in the cage and I just wanted to go out and fight.
“I was nervous and, as many people understand, emotions run high during matches, so I behaved badly towards Maria before the match.
“I would like to publicly apologize to her. I am a married man and I respect women’s sexuality.
“She was working and after the fight I didn’t plead guilty either because they hit me in the head. Please tell Maria I’m sorry.”
However, his apology was not enough to keep his job, and the Hard Fighting Championship handed him a lifetime ban.
Haverty has previously competed in boxing and kickboxing. According to Tapology, this was his first professional MMA fight.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and is reprinted with permission.
