UFC 229 ended on a sour note as an all-out brawl broke out between Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s corner and Conor McGregor‘s corner. The ending brought a lot of controversy to what was supposed to be the biggest UFC card ever.
The fight ended with Nurmagomedov rag-dolling McGregor before eventually winning the fight via neck crank in the fourth round. What normally would have been the end of the beef between the two men only ended up sparking an even bigger feud, one that brought out the worst in everyone involved.
Nurmagomedov jumped out of the cage and immediately went after McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis. This led Nurmagomedov’s corner to jump into the cage and attack McGregor. Eventually, the cage became the scene of a huge brawl with McGregor punching members of Nurmagomedov’s camp and vice versa.
Currently, Nurmagomedov has yet to be paid for the event after Dana White said the Nevada State Athletic Commission withheld the Russian’s purse until they had concluded an investigation.
As for what kind of punishment can be expected, White can only speculate as to the lengths the commission will go.
“We have to see what happens with the Nevada State Athletic Commission,” White told reporters at the post-fight press conference.
“There’s going to be fines, there’s going to be God knows what. Can these guys get visas and get back into the country? I mean Khabib. We’ll see how this thing plays out.”
Although no one is sure what the NSAC will do, the UFC has yet to figure out what punishments they will hand out. There has been speculation Nurmagomedov could potentially be stripped. It seems the Athletic Commission will be the first to decide what happens next and the UFC will follow suit.
“The Nevada State Athletic Commission is going to have to hand out some sort of fine or suspension and after that, we’ll see,” White said. “If he gets suspended, it depends on how long his suspension is, and yeah, he’s probably going to get stripped if it’s a long suspension.”
As for the fighters involved in the brawl, don’t expect to see them in the Octagon anytime soon.
“The guys who jumped in will never fight here,” White said. “They’ll never fight here.”