Post-match brawl mars UFC title fight
Nurmagomedov faces punishment after jumping out of cage to attack McGregor's teammate, following Irishman's submission
For once, the violence in the octagon looked secondary as a mass brawl ensued after Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov retained his UFC lightweight title with a submission win over Conor McGregor yesterday morning (Singapore time).
Nurmagomedov jumped out of the cage before leaping feet first at McGregor's teammate and cornerman Dillon Danis, and three of the Russian's team were arrested and later released on a black night for a sport that has struggled to win mainstream acceptance for 25 years.
"I saw one of Conor's guys yelling at Khabib, " UFC boss Dana White told a media conference.
"Khabib ran and jumped over the octagon, went after him. Two of Khabib's guys got into the octagon, one guy hit Conor with some shots from behind, and that's it.
"The Nevada State Athletic Commission pulled the footage from us, there's an investigation going on. They are withholding Khabib's purse, they are not withholding Conor's.
"The way that works is Conor is one of the guys who was attacked. Conor refused to press charges. There were three guys from Khabib's team arrested, and they were released because Conor didn't want to press charges."
After a lengthy delay, Nurmagomedov eventually addressed a media conference at the T-Mobile Arena.
"First of all, I want to say sorry to athletic commission Nevada, to Vegas, I know this is not my best side," he said.
He went on to complain bitterly about McGregor's behavior in the lead-up to the fight that exacerbated the bad blood between the two teams.
"He talked about my religion, he talked about my country, he talked about my father, he come to Brooklyn and he broke bus, he almost killed a couple people - what about this?" he asked reporters.
The 30-year-old from Dagestan had mauled former two-weight champion McGregor before the Irishman tapped out to a rear naked choke hold in the fourth round.
STUNNED
But that was quickly forgotten in the following melee that stunned the crowd, which included a mass of chanting, flag-waving Irish fans as well as celebrities such as Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Mel Gibson and Northern Ireland golf star Rory McIlroy.
Angry fans of the two fighters brawled in the concourses of the arena as police and security staff struggled to maintain any semblance of order, and violent scuffles continued into the night around the Las Vegas strip.
White refused to hand Nurmagomedov his belt, saying he feared it would further inflame the crowd. The ring announcer declared Nurmagomedov the winner only after both fighters had departed.
White added that it would be now up to the Nevada State Athletic Commission to decide if the Russian would face further sanctions. He said a suspension and "big money fines" could be looming for Nurmagomedov, who might also face difficulties obtaining a visa to fight in the United States in the future.
McGregor was returning to mixed martial arts for the first time since November 2016, having detoured last year to a cross-combat boxing bout against Floyd Mayweather which ended in defeat - but still earned McGregor some US$100 million (S$138.2m).
His return sparked massive interest, with White predicting the bout would break the UFC record of 1.65 million pay-per-view buys. - REUTERS, AFP
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