Khabib Nurmagomedov silenced Conor McGregor in UFC 229 to retain his status as UFC Lightweight Champion.
The match tested the contrasting styles of the two fighters – the Russian who’s highly favoured with his wrestling and McGregor a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt – we were in for an interesting encounter.
There were no surprises when it came to the usual smack talk McGregor kept dishing out to the Khabib in promotion for this fight. The highlight or lowlight of McGregor’s smack talk were his slurs against Khabib – which included calling his manager a ‘terrorist snitch’, offering Khabib a drink of his whiskey Proper Twelve – but the Russian doesn’t drink as that practice is against his Muslim religion.
Conor McGregor tapped out in the fourth round when the Russian managed to lock in a rear naked choke hold. But what ensued was absolute chaos. Khabib went on to taunt McGregor after his submission and followed that up with a moment of madness as he lept out of the Octagon and attacked McGregor’s training partner, Dillon Danis. A brawl ensued that even saw McGregor hit one of Nurmagomedov’s partners before McGregor was hit from behind by one of Khabib’s friends. The brawl halted as Khabib and Conor were escorted by police out of the venue.
Khabib later apologized in the post fight conference:
“This is not my best side. He talked about my religion, my country, my father. He came to Brooklyn, he broke bus and nearly killed two people. So why do people still talk about me jumping over the cage? I have shown respect.
“I told you guys: his whole team and him, they are tap machines. Today he tapped. Undisputed and undefeated.
“This is a respectful sport. This is not a trash-talking sport. I want to change this game. You cannot talk about religions and nations.
“This for me is very important. Thank you for waiting for me. I know my father is gonna smash me when I go home. Nevada: sorry. Vegas: sorry.”
McGregor did not press charges against Khabib’s partners who took a swing at him. And later tweeted: “Good knock. Looking forward to the rematch.”
Khabib apologizes for his actions in a post fight conference
