UFC Stars McGregor, Khabib Both Suspended for Post-Fight Fracas
The Nevada Athletic Commission has handed down discipline for the chaos that erupted following Khabib Nurmagomedov’s title win over Conor McGregor at UFC 229.
The commission’s executive director, Bob Bennett, said both fighters will be temporarily suspended beginning on Monday, according to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
There will then be a hearing on Oct. 24 in which a vote will take place to see if the two will be suspended indefinitely pending results of the commission’s investigation.
After defeating McGregor by submission in the fourth round Saturday, Nurmagomedov leaped over the Octagon cage and jumped into the crowd to attack one of McGregor’s coaches.
Just a few seconds later, McGregor climbed the cage and threw a punch at a member of Nurmagomedov’s team. More members of Nurmagomedov’s team then jumped the cage and went after McGregor, who was still recovering from nearly being choked out just minutes earlier.
Khabib makes Conor tap out and then chaos ensues
– Khabib talks some extra trash to Conor
– Khabib jumps the cage
– Conor appears to get punched by a member of Khabib's team pic.twitter.com/w2eg4Yz3tc— Rob Lopez (@r0bato) October 7, 2018
Helwani reported that the Nevada Athletic Commission prevented the post-fight brawl from being any worse, even though it’s not their job to do so. He said NAC inspector Charvez Foger “stopped Conor from jumping over the cage.”
In particular, it was NAC inspector Charvez Foger, I’m told, who was the one who stopped Conor from jumping over the cage. Of course, McGregor was still ambushed but who knows how much worse it could have been had he not been stopped and they brawled in the crowd.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 12, 2018
McGregor has received his $3 million payout from the fight, while the other 23 fighters on the UFC 229 card received a combined payout of $3.6 million.
That figure includes Nurmagomedov’s payout of $2 million, although he has yet to receive his purse. However, Nurmagomedov seems to be worried more about his teammate, Zubaira Tukhugov, who was one of the people who attacked McGregor after the fight.
The UFC has canceled an upcoming fight that Tukhugov had scheduled with one of McGregor’s teammates, and the promotion could even release him from his contract.
That isn’t sitting well with Nurmagomedov, who threatened to quit UFC if it decides to fire Tukhugov for his actions.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Boy2zCpn_m_/?taken-by=khabib_nurmagomedov
“In any case, punish me, @zubairatukhugov has nothing to do with that,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram. “… if you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too.”
Helwani believes that Nurmagomedov means what he says and this is no PR stunt.
“Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the most loyal people that I’ve ever met in this sport,” Helwani tweeted. “And when he comes out there and says that he is ready and willing to leave the sport or the company if they get rid of his friend, he is being 100 percent honest.
“This is no PR stunt. He is 100 percent being honest that he is ready to do this. In the end, I don’t think it will come to that, but a very strong stance by Khabib Nurmagomedov for his team and that’s why, essentially, he did all this because he felt his team was being disrespected by Conor.”
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