"You're going to get me crucified" - UFC fighter reacts after his Albanian flag gets pulled by UFC moments before Atlantic City walkout

UFC featherweight Dennis Buzukja scored his first-ever win in the promotion at UFC Atlantic City, by knocking out Connor Matthews with a thunderous left hook. Unfortunately, the 145-pounder was robbed of the opportunity of repping his ancestral flag inside the octagon.

Before his walkout, the promotion barred him from waving the Albanian flag. While Buzukja is an American, born on Staten Island, New York, he is of Albanian heritage. Following his win, he took part in a post-fight interview backstage, where he joked about the consequences he may now face from his Albanian brethren. He said:

"It's crazy. Right before I was going to walk out, they came and told me I can't walk out with my flag because it had gold trim on it. And they were like, 'Only the regular flag.' You know it's just gold trim, I didn't understand. But I couldn't walk out with it. I was like, 'You're going to get me crucified by the Albanian people.'"

Check out Dennis Buzukja talk about the flag dilemma (0:47):

For now, Buzukja will get the chance to continue representing Albania on the grandest stage in MMA. He referred to former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight Ilir Latifi, who is also of Albanian heritage, as a source of inspiration and among the greatest of Albanian MMA fighters.

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The UFC flag ban has been reversed

While it has never been explicitly clear exactly why the promotion banned fighters from waving their flags inside the octagon, it is believed that it had to do with the ongoing Russo-Ukranian war. However, this ban has since been lifted.

The promotion's CEO, Dana White, first reversed the ban in Octobber last year. However, as Dennis Buzukja just found out, the flags cannot have any irregularities and must be identical to their accepted global format.