Despite a marvelous UFC 227 fight card that lit up the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif., UFC president Dana White still had to answer questions last night (Sat., Aug. 4, 2018) about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s upcoming lightweight title fight with Conor McGregor.
The massive superfight was announced earlier this week and will take place at UFC 229 on Oct. 6 from Las Vegas, Nevada. That puts us just about two months away from arguably the biggest fight in UFC history.
The rivalry between McGregor and Nurmagomedov has been brewing for a very long time, and hit a whole new level this past April when “Notorious” attacked a Brooklyn bus to get to Khabib. McGregor ended up getting hit with a felony and misdemeanors, but was cleared of most charges late last month.
A title fight as big as Khabib vs. McGregor warrants all the attention in the world, especially from a promotional standpoint. But with 60 days to prepare for a Las Vegas showdown, White confirmed UFC won’t be bringing the circus on the road, which is exactly what UFC did for McGregor’s anticipated clash with Jose Aldo three years ago.
“We don’t have time for a world tour,” White said during UFC 227 post-fight press conference (full replay here). “These guys are going to fight the first week of October. Both guys are going to go into camp. We’ll do something fun, we’ll do some different stuff. We’re literally having a big meeting on Monday to get this stuff in order and get it going.”
Unfortunately for White, promoting Khabib vs. McGregor isn’t the only thing he has to worry about. In addition to attracting massive interest from fight fans all across the globe, White and company must do their best to prevent any out-of-cage encounters between Khabib, McGregor, or any members of their teams.
When one fighter throws a dolly through a bus window to get to another fighter you can understand UFC’s cautious approach.
“We’re pretty confident that we can control what happens,” White said. “What happened in New York, obviously if you look at what happened, everyone was loading onto the buses, everything was done, and our staff still handled it pretty damn well for what was going down.
“We’re very aware. Nothing is going to happen. We’ll be good.”
With just two months before Khabib and McGregor finally clash inside of the Octagon, expect countless Twitter feuds, verbal lashings, face-to-face staredowns, and behind-the-scenes video coverage, all of which will be used to promote the Russia vs. Ireland superfight.