In an unexpected incident at 247 FC: Brawl in the Burgh 21.5 in Monroeville, Pa., MMA star Harris (0-0) crossed a line by kissing his opponent, Cam Jenkins (1-0), on the mouth during their faceoff. The unexpected act left Jenkins and onlookers stunned, with Jenkins responding by throwing a backhanded slap at Harris.
Promoter Hunter Homistek quickly intervened to control the situation, absorbing the brunt of Harris’s angry shoves. After tensions cooled, the stars completed their faceoff and went their separate ways.
While such incidents are uncommon in men’s MMA, they occasionally occur in women’s boxing, MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
This event brings to mind other memorable kissing incidents in combat sports. In a recent grappling match, UFC’s Paul Craig faced a similar situation against jiu-jitsu phenom Jed Hue on a Polaris card.
Craig initiated a kiss during the face-off, but the tables quickly turned in the match. Hue swiftly submitted Craig with a corkscrew footlock, demonstrating that success in MMA doesn’t always translate to competitive grappling. After the tap, Hue blew a kiss to a visibly upset Craig.
In boxing, a notable incident occurred when super featherweight champion Ewa Brodnicka kissed her challenger Edith Soledad Matthysse during weigh-ins.
Matthysse retaliated with a slap, leading to a scuffle. Despite the altercation, Brodnicka went on to winby split decision. This event drew comparisons to a similar occurrence in MMA history between Heath Herring and Yoshiro Nakao.
More recently, during Kingpyn Boxing’s High Stakes tournament semi-finals, OF boxers Whitney Johns and Amber O’Donnell surprised audiences by sharing a kiss during their face-off. Both fighters were in the loser’s bracket following quarter-final defeats in April. The weigh-in at Dublin’s 3Arena saw O’Donnell initiate a playful kiss, which evolved into a longer embrace, much to the audience’s amusement. The incident sparked varied reactions among fans and added an element of excitement to their upcoming bout.
247 FC event starts Starts on Saturday, June 29 · 12pm EDT.
