New York City mayor Eric Adams declares UFC 322 brawlers ‘will be held accountable’

The UFC doesn’t seem to care very much when brawls break out between their fighters, but the mayor of New York is taking an interest in the brawl that broke out at UFC 322 and has vowed to take action.

Madison Square Garden featured a number of great moments on November 15th and one not-so-great moment as Islam Makhachev’s entourage jumped social media troll Dillon Danis cageside and punched him up. The UFC’s response was to ban Danis for life, blaming the BJJ black belt for leaving his purchased floor seats and trying to start trouble in the fighters’ section.

While the members of Makhachev’s team that were involved were ejected from the arena, there were no immediate comments from the New York commission or police regarding the situation. The UFC said they had no plans to encourage legal action in any direction, and it appeared like this would be another violent cageside incident brushed under the rug.

That may not be so easy to do, though, as current (until Jan. 1, 2026) New York City mayor Eric Adams just got involved. He seems intent on making sure there’s some punishment delivered to those at UFC 322 who disturbed the peace.

“These assaults at Madison Square Garden are completely unacceptable,” Adams wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “The NYPD is already conducting a full investigation, and everyone responsible will be held accountable.”

That’s bad news for members of Team Makhachev involved in the brawl, especially Magomed “John Pork” Zaynukov, who is featured heavily in footage sucker-punching Danis from behind. Criminal charges could affect his ability to return to the United States at a point where it looked like he was destined to become a star over here.

New York City isn’t known for messing around. Even Conor McGregor had to go through a whole court process and have his lawyers fight hard to avoid charges on his record that would keep him out of the U.S. after he threw a trolley through a bus window back in 2018. While the UFC is way more connected politically now than they were then, will they expend any of that power going to bat for Team Makhachev?

If they don’t, Islam Makhachev’s entourage might be a lot smaller the next time he travels to the U.S.