Venum Training Camp owner and coach Mehdi Zatout is protesting the decision of ONE Championship to ban him and Russian Muay Thai kickboxer Alaverdi Ramazanov from attending its events for the next six months.
The ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Title victory of Jonathan Haggerty against Fabricio Andrade wasn’t the only highlight of ONE Fight Night 16 last Friday. After the ONE Fight Night 16 main event, Ramazanov confronted Haggerty in the ring.
According to Zatout, Ramazanov expressed eagerness to face the winner at the start of the show due to his second-rank position. The coach warned Ramazanov about going to the ring and making the move, advising the young fighter to wait for the show to end. Ramazanov, however, still went, which led to some mic-snatching moments.
A new challenger has appeared! 🗡️
🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch the full #ONEFightNight16 event replay 👉 https://t.co/BquajhoqqN pic.twitter.com/t1maWKh8NV
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 4, 2023
“I want to say something. You see! He’s scared of me. Scared. Scared. Just tell me. Why are you scared of me?” Ramazanov said after getting the microphone from ONE commentator Mitch Chilson.
Needless to say, the Russian caught the attention of Haggert, responding to Ramazanov’s move as a way just “to get a fight.” Unfortunately, it didn’t please ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who said that the two “breached security” and “jeopardized the safety of everyone in the stadium.” This later resulted in the ban of Zatout and Ramazanov. The former, nonetheless, is contesting the decision.
“I didn’t do anything and I don’t understand why I’m involved in this story,” Zatout said. “After the fight I told him there is no interest to stand up in the ring and do that. I truly said to Alaverdi to wait for [after] the end of the show, and he didn’t listen to me at all. I work by passion since many years and I will never try to disrespect the hard work of people beside me.”
The ban is a huge problem for Zatout and his Venum Training Camp Thailand. The camp is the center of the team’s fighters participating in the weekly ONE Friday Fights cards and the 12 live ONE Championship events per year streaming on Prime Video.
