Khabib Nurmagomedov teammates Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Zubaira Tukhugov have been granted reduced suspensions by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for their roles in the melee that occurred after the UFC 229 headliner.
Sherdog.com confirmed with NSAC executive director Bob Bennett on Wednesday that the fighters’ attorney put forth a motion requesting a reduction of 35 days in their original one-year suspension. That requested will be fulfilled provided both Nurmagomedov and Tukhugov serve 10 hours of community service apiece with youth in a manner of their choosing.
During their initial hearing, the NSAC did not discuss the community service option with Nurmagomedov and Tukhugov as they did with Khabib Nurmagomedov, which created some leeway with the terms of the suspension.
“We feel there’s precedence for this and it was a reasonable request,” said Bennett.
Nurmagomedov and Tukhugov have already paid their $25,000 NSAC-mandated fines, and Bennett anticipates that their community service will be complete by the end of June. If all goes as planned the fighters will have served 11 months of their 12-month sanction and will be eligible to return to active competition by Sept. 2.
That could potentially open the door for both men to compete on the UFC 242 card scheduled for Sept. 7 in Abu Dhabi, although Abubakar Nurmagomedov last competed under the PFL banner. That card is expected to be headlined by a lightweight championship bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier. Khabib Nurmagomedov has previously been on record as saying he would not fight until his teammates were cleared.
The post-UFC 229 melee began when Khabib Nurmagomedov jumped out of the Octagon following his UFC 229 victory to attack McGregor cornerman Dillon Danis. In the meantime, McGregor climbed the cage and took a swing at Abubakar Nurmagomedov<. Then, Tukhugov and Esedulla Emiragaev entered the cage to confront McGregor, and Tukugov landed a punch on McGregor from behind.
Abubakar Nurmagomedov competed as a welterweight on Professional Fighters League Season 1, where he posted a 1-1-1 mark. He last fought on Oct. 20, where he battled Bojan Velickovic to a draw in the PFL playoffs.
Tukhugov had a nine-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing at UFC 198, where he suffered a split-decision loss to Renato Carneiro. Tukhugov began his promotional tenure with wins over Douglas Silva de Andrade, Ernest Chavez and Phillipe Nover.