UFC Fighters Involved in Strange, Boomerang-Throwing Scuffle in Australia

The UFC is putting on a show in Sydney this Saturday, and it sent over a handful of fighters to help generate buzz.

In an odd turn, however, two of them—former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum and No. 3-ranked welterweight Colby Covington—got into a scuffle. 

Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

UFC fighter Dan Hooker captured footage of the two getting into it, with Werdum seemingly punctuating the exchange by hurling a boomerang at Covington. Check out the video above.

--Update: November 16, 2017, 12:12 p.m. ET--

According to MMA journalist Jeff Sherwood, Covington is planning to press charges, and police are investigating the incident:

It is unknown as to whether the mentioned security video is in addition to Werdum throwing the boomerang.

End of Update

News of the dust-up first broke when Covington discussed the incident on Instagram Live (h/t Fancy Combat). Werdum is yet to give his take on the situation.

To add to the mess for the UFC, Covington can also be heard using a homophobic slur on the video he posted. He went on to say "f--k Brazil" twice and referred to the country's inhabitants as a "bunch of filthy animals." He then finished with "And they wonder why they get talked to like that? Because they're a bunch of animals."

It isn't the first time he's used this kind of language, either. He referred to a Sao Paulo, Brazil, crowd as "filthy animals" after defeating Demian Maia by unanimous decision on October 28.

In an interview with UOL's Diego Ribas (h/t MMA Fighting's Marc Raimondi), Werdum accused Covington of starting the argument by saying "filthy Brazilians" as they walked past each other. 

While he was riding high as a fan favorite and UFC champion just a few short years ago, Werdum has hardly been a PR darling lately. He kicked an opponent's coach, associated himself with human-rights abuser Ramzan Kadyrov and, most recently, spouted off a homophobic slur multiple times during a similar episode with interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.

To this point, the UFC has taken no action to wrangle Werdum or punish Covington for his language. It will be interesting to see if this will warrant a punishment.