A brawl broke out in the ring after Darren Till’s boxing debut against Mohammad Mutie at Social Knockout 3 on Saturday night.
The fight was waved off in the second round with Mutie unable to continue after eating a shot, which he claimed had hit him on the back of the head.
A punch does appear to have landed on the back of Mutie’s head during a clinch moments before he protested to the referee but there didn’t appear to be much power behind it.
Holding the back of his head, Mutie fell to his knees writhing in pain as the referee called the fight.
When the two men were brought to the centre of the ring for the official decision, Till was declared the victor via TKO, which Mutie clearly took exception to.
The United Arab Emirates MMA fighter charged over to Till after the decision was read out and threw a kick, prompting a mass brawl to erupt between both men’s entourages.
Till landed a straight left in reply as both men got tangled up in the ropes with the former UFC welterweight title challenger on top.
“This is fighting, you get hit,” said Till in the immediate aftermath of the heated altercation.
“If you don’t wanna continue fighting, don’t be a fighter. He’s not a fighter.
He’s not a real fighter. He’s a coward. And then, when I’m minding my own business, he comes and attack me.
“I’m so sorry. I’m not that guy. I’m a respectful guy. I love this sport. l love Dubai.
“I’ve been coming here since 2016 so I do want to apologize but I was standing there minding my own business and he came over to attack me with his team.
“I’ve got to defend myself. I’m really sorry about that guys.”
This was Till’s first outing since parting ways with the UFC in February 2023 following a loss to Dricus du Plessis.
The Liverpudlian had been scheduled to box former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson undercard, which was originally scheduled for July 20.
However, the event was postponed until November 15 with Tyson deemed medically unfit to compete in the summer due to an ulcer flare up and so Till took this fight with Mutie.