CURITIBA, Brazil – The fan who grabbed Matt Brown during his walk to the octagon for Saturday’s UFC 198 bout with Demian Maia was located and removed from the venue, according to UFC officials.

Things got dicey for Brown (20-14 MMA, 13-8 UFC) as he made his way to the cage to fight Brazilian welterweight Maia (23-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) in front of a massive Brazilian audience. Brown appeared to be hit by several members of the audience, and one fan grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt. That person apparently didn’t go unpunished.

“We identified who it was that pulled him, and we took them out of the arena,” UFC Senior Vice President and General Manager of Brazil Giovani Decker told MMAjunkie at UFC 198’s post-fight press conference.

Brown, who suffered a third-round submission loss to Maia in the featured preliminary-card bout, was public enemy No. 1 at the event after he flipped off the crowd at weigh-ins.

Practically all non-Brazilian fighters are booed when competing against a native athlete. It was no different when “The Immortal” made his way out to fight Maia on Saturday at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. Fans crossed the line by touching him, though, and Decker said extra measures will be taken in the future to avoid similar mishaps.

“Moving forward, we’re just going to have to be extra careful, especially when the foreign fighters are walking out,” Decker said. “But whoever it was that pulled him, we took him out of the arena.”

For complete coverage of UFC 198, check out the UFC Events section of the site.