LAS VEGAS – The intensity between Ion Cutelaba and Dustin Jacoby just ratcheted up a notch ahead of their UFC on ESPN 23 light heavyweight fight.
During Friday’s weigh-ins faceoffs, Cutelaba walked onto the stage, gave UFC president Dana White a firm handshake, and then proceeded to grab Jacoby by the back of his neck as he was in a fighter’s stance. White quickly tried to separate the two fighters as UFC security also rushed in.
“Oh, f*ck. Come on,” White said out loud. “I was just ragging on Sean (Shelby) before I walked in here.”
White’s reference was to his criticism of UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby for reacting too slowly to Jeremy Stephens’ hard shove of Drakkar Klose, which gave Klose a concussion and forced him to withdraw from their UFC on ESPN 22 the day of the event.
You can watch the staredown between Cutelaba and Jacoby in the video above.
UFC on ESPN 23 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex. It airs on ESPN2 and streams on ESPN+.
