What was supposed to be a fight week buildup for Karate Combat 61 turned into complete chaos, and days later, nobody involved seems anywhere close to agreeing on what actually happened.
Patricky Pitbull never even made it into the pit for his scheduled clash with champion Shahzaib Rind after a series of incidents in Miami spiraled out of control, including multiple brawls involving fighters, coaches, and even family members.
Now both sides are pointing fingers.
The first confrontation happened during a tense April 30 faceoff between Patricky and Rind. Things escalated fast, with both camps getting involved after tempers boiled over. Then the next morning, things somehow got even more ridiculous when MMA fighters CJ Brant and Austin Spivey showed up at the host hotel with water guns, spraying the Pitbull brothers and their wives during breakfast, triggering another all-out fight.
Karate Combat president Asim Zaidi defended how the promotion handled the situation, saying the original faceoff didn’t have security because he didn’t expect elite fighters to lose control.
“I don’t think [the Pitbull brothers] meant for it to happen,” Zaidi said. “I think it was a lot of just, like, unfortunate circumstance. Shahzaib went chest to chest, and then the Pitbull brother didn’t want to back down, so he bearhugged him and pushed them back. Then Shahzaib didn’t like that, and it just escalated. But I don’t want to blame anybody. I wish that nobody would keep jumping in against Shahzaib. It was like three versus one, and he was just with his wife and his sponsor. That stinks, but nobody got hurt. I don’t like it, but I didn’t mind it. I said, ‘Okay, good. More attention for the fight on Saturday, and everybody made it out healthy. So, it’s over. I’m happy with that.’”
That “more attention” comment probably won’t sit well with the Pitbull camp.
Patricio Pitbull says the entire mess could have been avoided if extra security had been added after the first altercation, especially since tensions were already clearly high heading into weigh-ins.
Zaidi pushed back, saying the water gun prank happened in front of the commission, making violence the last thing he expected.
“With the water gun incident, man, it was very stupid,” Zaidi said. “I didn’t have security on this one because it was in front of the commission. We never have security in things that the commission is involved with because who the hell would want to fight in front of somebody that can suspend your license or somebody that can stop you from getting paid, you know? That never happened ever in the history in front of us, so I didn’t expect it. And then these guys, they like to play some prank. They’re, like, 15 feet away, sprinkling the water on the breakfast table and it’s flying over everybody. The Pitbull brothers get mad, they run outside. And what’s weird is, while they’re chasing them, while the Pitbulls are punching and kicking, the guy’s still sprinkling the water. I think he still thinks it’s a joke, but it’s not a joke to them.”
From Patricky’s perspective, the problems started long before breakfast.
He says Rind crossed the line during the original faceoff.
“I just held my ground,” Patricky said. “I think the real trouble started when the guy tried to throw two elbows at me. And after I pushed him, he still tried to kick me. That’s when my brother went after him. But if it had just been the usual faceoff tension, it would’ve stayed at some pushing and nothing more. But those guys set everything up for the next day.”
Patricio backed that up, saying the first incident was already headed in the wrong direction before anyone else got involved.
“If you wanted a calm faceoff, you shouldn’t be touching the guy,” Patricio added.
The biggest disagreement now centers around the hotel fight.
Zaidi admits the second brawl started because Brant and Spivey sprayed the Pitbull family, but he described it more as immature stupidity than malicious intent.
“I talked to them and they said, ‘Last night we saw three people attack our friend. All three people trying to punch our friend. The least we can do is sprinkle water on them,’” Zaidi said. “I said, ‘Guys, yeah, but not in the hotel, not in my promotion, not while they’re having breakfast with the family. Is different, you know?’ But they were like kids trying to have fun, you know? They’re 25 years old, you know? It’s just something very stupid that they shouldn’t do.”
Patricio isn’t buying that explanation.
He believes Karate Combat knew exactly what was coming.
“There’s no way he didn’t know,” Patricio said. “They came out from inside holding those guns and he knew things could escalate because we were there with our wives. An honorable man will defend his family.”
That’s where this story shifts from fighter drama into something much messier.
Patricio accused Zaidi of actively fueling the chaos, promoting the incidents online, and helping shape a narrative that favored Rind and Karate Combat.
“Asim is talking like he doesn’t want to twist things, saying the commission was watching, but he actually promoted all of this,” Patricio said.
Zaidi flatly denied orchestrating anything, saying the promotion lost money because the fight was canceled and that he actually defended the Pitbull brothers when the hotel and police wanted them removed.
“They asked me to kick out three people and I said no,” Zaidi said. “I defended them.”
Still, the relationship appears completely broken.
Patricky called Zaidi’s conduct “completely unprofessional,” arguing that a promotion president should never take sides in a conflict involving one of his own fighters.
Patricio went even harder, calling Zaidi “a coward” and “a terrible promoter.”
Now the Florida commission is reviewing the incidents, and possible sanctions are on the table.
That could create another major issue for Patricky, who says there’s already talk that his fight purse may be withheld despite making weight and fulfilling his obligations.
“The president is saying the commission blocked the payment of my purse,” Patricky said. “It seems like one of the intentions is not to pay me, even though I did everything I was supposed to do.”
At this point, the actual fight feels like the least interesting part of the story.
Whether these sides ever work together again looks doubtful, even though Zaidi says he’d still be open to doing business in the future.
Right now, this looks less like fight promotion and more like a feud that’s nowhere near over.
