Backstage Brawl Breaks Out at Fight to Win 161

Reports of a backstage brawl at Fight to Win 161 from Miami are surfacing. Event coordinator Seth Daniels and the official Fight to Win Instagram account both posted messages referencing some sort of scuffle.

An Instagram user posted video of the match that seemed to be the cause of the brawl — a juvenile match between Achilles Rocha of Vagner Rocha Martial Arts and Michael Sainz of Team Alpha Miami. According to the post, the match became heated with shoving between the participants and coaches calling for a disqualification. A scuffle backstage followed, prompting Daniels and Fight to Win to post the above Instagram posts.

No reports have yet been confirmed by Daniels, Fight to Win, or any member of either team rumored to be involved.

The card wasn’t all drama, though. In the night’s main event, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu earned a decision win over Tim Spriggs in a no-gi match, and Diego Oliveira edged Gabriel Sousa by split decision in a gi match. Also, Aaron “Tex” Johnson picked up a beautiful reverse armbar on Arnaldo Maidano.

Fight to Win returns to action next week with an all-female card on January 29, 2021, live from Miami, FL.

Ben Coate

Ben has been involved with grappling, whether through wrestling or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, essentially his entire life. After wrestling throughout his childhood, Ben found Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a young adult and quickly fell in love. He has been training for over ten years and holds the rank of black belt, and remains involved in both the MMA and BJJ scene. Ben has been writing about combat sports since 2017. He has interviewed and profiled some of MMA's biggest stars, including multiple UFC champions.

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