The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) convened in Las Vegas today (Wed., October 24, 2018) to decide the next steps in the resolution of the UFC 229 brawl. Their main decision ended with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor suspended.
The NSAC voted unanimously to temporarily suspend Nurmagomedov and McGregor. The star fighters will be out for an indefinite amount of time pending the NSAC’s investigation into the bizarre post-fight melee at October 6’s UFC 229. The fighters were previously suspended for 10 days, the maximum amount a fighter can be suspended pending a hearing.
The temporary suspension is used while the commission is drafting a formal complaint against one or more fighters. No official complaints have been filed, but the fighters are suspended pending the commission’s “comprehensive investigation.”
Khabib and McGregor were not present during the hearing today, but Nevada deputy attorney general Caroline Bateman was. She called the brawl a “discredit to unarmed combat” and “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
She also said it was an outright criminal act in the State of Nevada. Khabib was called the catalyst for the event. That was most likely due to the fact he jumped into the crowd to fight McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis. McGregor’s part in the brawl was mentioned as well.
The commission also voted to release $1 million of Khabib’s $2 million purse for UFC 229 after withholding the entire amount after the fight. NSAC executive director Bob Bennett is still working on the official complaints. They’ll be brought against Khabib and McGregor at its December hearing.
Bad Blood Runs Deep
The UFC 229 post-fight brawl was one of the most chaotic scenes in MMA history. It was the culmination of months of bad blood stemming from McGregor’s now-infamous Brooklyn bus attack last April. There, he threw a metal dolly through a bus containing Khabib. He was arrested on assault charges, jailed, and paid bail. The Irish star later reached a plea deal in court this summer.
But his rivalry was far from over with Khabib. It ramped up when their bout was announced prior to August’s UFC 227. The bad blood was only furthered when McGregor went on an all-out assault on Khabib’s home country, family, and manager during a pre-fight press conference in New York.
When it was time to fight, Khabib dominated the action. He took down McGregor at will and rained down ground and pound before submitting ‘The Notorious’ in the fourth round. After some rumored anti-Muslim slurs from McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis, Khabib jumped into the crowd to fight him, inciting the whole ordeal.
Khabib’s teammates then jumped into the cage to fight McGregor. Video evidence showed the Irishman may have cut them off with the first punch. Regardless, Khabib’s teammate Zubaira Tukhugov bragged about assaulting McGregor on social media the next day. Dana White had already said he was done fighting in the UFC. He was then pulled from his scheduled UFC Moncton match-up with Artem Lobov.
Khabib threatened to leave the UFC if Tukhugov was released, but the situation has since been sorted out according to White. But his situation with the NSAC is very much in flux. Based on the hearing today, it seems the commission is placing much of the blame on the undefeated lightweight champion.
We’ll find out just how much when he faces the official complaint in December.
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