The RAF leadership addressed the incident between Arman Tsarukyan and Georgio Poullas during their post-event press conference, though they remained deliberately guarded in their immediate response.
When initially asked about the altercation, the promotion chose to withhold judgment. “You know, today was an incredible event. It was electric. We had some of the athletes around. And you know, there was an unfortunate event.”
They continued: “We’re not going to really comment on that. We still have to review the tape and make an assessment on exactly what happened. So I’m not going to really go into that. I want to focus on the matches and some of the, you know, the great outcome. So, I’ll leave it at that.”
Henry Cejudo, who competed earlier in the evening, offered his perspective on the heated moment. “It’s unfortunate the way the co-main event kind of happened. But that’s the spirit of competition, too. You know, spirit of competition of somebody wanting, there’s a winner and there’s a loser. And then when they both go out there and put money on the line and the whole thing look what that turned into. But regardless, man, I think, you know, wrestling builds character and it’s unfortunate the way things happen. But I don’t know, guys. I don’t know what you guys think, but I’d love to see a rematch.”
When pressed about the controversial finish and its implications for the promotion, Eric Bischoff addressed social media speculation directly.
He said: “Well, first of all, I want to make it clear. I’ve already been accused on social media for actually creating that scene, right? Because it looks so much like professional wrestling. But anybody that knows me, who’s ever worked with me, knows that I would never have let it go that long, right? It was just too long.”
Bischoff continued, acknowledging the complexity of the situation. “What happened tonight, yeah, it’s going to create controversy and you know the right kind of controversy managed properly can create cash but it can also create you know backlash too. So, like Chad said, we’re just going to look through the tape, make a decision, and deal with it.”
The leadership emphasized their organizational values in the aftermath. “Yeah, I think it’s important on that point is that we’re a family. We pride ourselves in being a family friendly combat sport, right? So, obviously, we don’t go out and try to have these kind of situations happens. We’re on six events, not even a blip. So, it’s going to happen, unfortunately. But like Eric said, you know, we got to figure out how to make sure it doesn’t.”
