AJ Agazarm will not be fined for his behavior during and after his Bellator 243 fight vs. Cris Lencioni on Friday.
The trash-talked-filled fight included a headbutt and post-round contact, and the bad blood continued boiling over after Lencioni was named the winner by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28).
According to Mohegan Tribal commission head Mike Mazzulli, Agazarm has been warned, but will not be fined for his language or actions. Mazzulli said Agazaram apologized for the clash of heads. Should Agazarm repeat such offenses in the future, Mazzulli said the fighter will face harsher disciplinary measures.
However, Mazzulli took particular exception with a particular post-fight claim. Agazarm insisted on speaking to reporters after the fight despite losing the bout. During the impromptu scrum, Agazarm claimed judge Doug Crosby had a conflict of interest and shouldn’t have been judging the fight.
Mazzulli disputed Agazarm’s claims when speaking to MMA Junkie on Saturday.
“What I don’t like is a fighter that has opinions that aren’t merited at all,” Mazzulli said. “There’s no merit in that at all. Basically, AJ came to me afterward and state that he couldn’t believe there was a 30-26 score. He automatically assumed that it was Doug Crosby and that was incorrect.”
Crosby scored the fight 29-28, making him the only of the three judges to score a round in Agazarm’s favor.
According to Mazzulli, all of his officials are required to sign a code of conduct, which includes avoiding conflict of interests. Mazzulli said numerous judges have notified him of conflicts in the past, including Crosby, who has been an official under his jurisdiction since 2002.
Mazzulli said, like many other members of the MMA community, Agazarm and Crosby had crossed paths in the past. However, he affirmed the two individuals do not have a direct relationship.
Additionally, Mazzulli said he spoke to referee Mike Beltran about his decision to pull the fighters together. While Mazzulli praised Beltran as one of the best referees in the world, he said a well-intentioned attempt to get the fighters to shake hands could have the potential to incite things further.
“It wasn’t necessary, but he was only trying to do the right thing,” Mazzulli said.
