Khabib Nurmagomedov has claimed that a lacklustre performance from Conor McGregor is what led to the brawl following their long-awaited matchup.
Khabib Nurmagomedov claimed what was his biggest win to date following his submission victory over the Irishman in the fourth round. There hadn’t been a feud to this level in the UFC before, so it was no surprise things spilt over after the match was done resulting in both teams and their fighters getting into a mass brawl.
Khabib spoke on the Full Send Podcast about why everything happened the way it did.
“First of all, I was preparing for war. I come inside the cage, I fight with this guy, and he tapped, I’m like, ‘Why I come here? Why I train so hard for this?
“You’re going to tap easily like this?’ I just take his chin, you know, and he tapped. This one makes me upset too, you know, because I accept more than what I find inside the cage… I remember someone from his corner said something and it was crazy emotional.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Reflects On McGregor Brawl
Although Khabib blames McGregor’s disappointing performance as the catalyst in this all, having moved forward in his life Khabib recognised how he was caught up in the moment and how emotions got the better of him.
“I’m not going to say I am proud of something like this, at the age of 33-years-old I can say I wouldn’t have jumped into the crowd now.
“I am like ‘okay this party is not finished’. I don’t really remember but who cares, I think he was happy because what would have happened if the referee wasn’t there? “They never asked to fight again, there was no reason to make the rematch after he tapped out in four rounds.” (Transcribed by Mirror.co.uk)
Having both received substantial fines post-event, both men would go their separate ways with Khabib Nurmagomedov going onto make two more title defences against Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje before heading up his brand-new promotion Eagle FC with the company already making a successful U.S debut in January.
McGregor would make a successful return against Donald Cerrone in January 2020 before dropping two back-to-back against Dustin Poirier and picking up a severe injury which will leave him side-lined till mid-2022.
Who was at fault for the UFC 229 Brawl?