The last two days have been truly bizarre for the Rizin Fighting Federation.
On Thursday, Brazilian MMA fighter Gabi Garcia showed up to Rizin FF8 weigh-ins a whopping 26 pounds overweight. The shocking result enraged her opponent, 53-year-old pro wrestler-turned-politician Shinobu Kandori, and forced Rizin FF to cancel the fight.
However, the Japanese MMA organization didn’t nix the bout until just before showtime Friday. That set the stage for an intense scene, as both fighters came out to address the crowd in Saitama, Japan.
Kandori’s comments were rather straightforward, as she said Rizin had no choice but to cancel the match and that she still wants to fight Garcia. But things got highly emotional once Garcia entered the ring to apologize.
https://twitter.com/FancyCombat/status/946660782275784704
Apparently unconvinced the apology resonated with the crowd, a tearful Garcia then dropped to her knees to apologize again.
https://twitter.com/FancyCombat/status/946661089588187136
Pretty heartbreaking stuff.
But Garcia didn’t stop there, as she later took to Instagram to post a statement, along with some unsettling images/videos of her bloody nose.
(Warning: Some of these photos and clips are a bit graphic.)
Hard to not feel bad for Garcia, regardless of what happened at the weigh-in.
Hopefully she can take some time off, get her body right and eventually deliver the fight Rizin FF fans were clamoring to see.
