McGregor vs Khabib

UFC 229’s main event may not have been pretty but despite what they’re reporting, it’s exactly what UFC would have wanted and more.

The build up 

The saga between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov feels like it has been going on forever, at UFC 229 the fight finally happened, but the war seems to have only just begun. While these two are the household names in this feud, there are two whole camps worth of fighters who hate each other.

Everything started with a simple slap from Khabib to McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov. The problem was this wasn’t in the octagon and instead it took place in a hotel in Brooklyn. Khabib and his team cornered Lobov and confronted him about comments made about the Lightweight champion Khabib. The confrontation led to a slap which didn’t sit well with Lobov’s teammate, the Notorious Conor McGregor.

The first ever two weight champion, McGregor, flew in his private jet to Brooklyn and caused chaos before UFC 223. He and his team arrived at the bus holding fighters, including Khabib. He didn’t hold back urging Khabib to exit the bus, despite security trying to hold the McGregor team back, McGregor was able to toss a dolly at the bus, smashing the window and minorly injuring several fighters.

This event led to McGregor and his team being arrested with three counts of assault. After all the legal issues were settled, eventually McGregor vs Khabib was announced for UFC 229. The press conferences became heated with the fighters getting very personal even leading to claims about family members.

The fight

Fight night finally came on the 6th of October. The fight was eagerly anticipated by MMA fans as well as people with an interest in the celebrity status of this bout. Celebrities such as Matt Damon, Chris Pratt and Rory Mcllroy filled the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After hours of prelim and main card fights including an action-packed match between other Lightweights Tony Ferguson and Anthony Pettis, it was time for the main event.

It is hard to argue that this wasn’t one of UFC’s most anticipated fights of all time as the story is so compelling. The personal rivalry alone makes this fight so intriguing but the resume of both athletes makes it even bigger. McGregor is arguably the biggest start to come from the sport, his name is known worldwide and his net worth is through the roof. Pit him against and undefeated champion who has yet to lose a single round in the UFC and you have yourself a fight.

The fight went how most Khabib fights have went, while some people may be surprised, others expected it to go exactly that way. The first round took Khabib a bit of time to take McGregor down to the mat, but once he did, he slowly worked away at him. While there was little damage done his control of the fight gave him an easy first round decision. The second round McGregor was down quicker than the first and it was much of the same for about four minutes. The third round was tighter and more in McGregor’s favour, it was a lot of stand up striking where the Irishman landed more punches but did take a vicious right hand that dropped him to the ground and may have swayed it towards Khabib.

The fourth round was the one that finished it. Although the third round was one that seemed like the tide was starting to turn in McGregor’s favour, Khabib managed to make him submit after grounding him once again and applied a rear-naked choke which forced McGregor to tap.

The Aftermath

Straight after his victory, Khabib shouted at McGregor after defeating him before storming the octagon and jumping feet first into the crowd towards McGregor’s teammates. He went after McGregor’s jiu-jitsu coach, Dillon Danis, and erupted a brawl between the two teams, right next to the crowd.

This led to chaos and a member of Khabib’s team jumped inside the octagon and sucker punched McGregor in the back of the head. The events caused Khabib to be denied his title being presented to him inside the octagon. As well as this, multiple fighters have been suspended and some have been threatened to be fired from UFC.

Khabib has stated that if his teammates go, so does he which leaves the UFC in a tricky predicament as they would be without one of their top fighters and money makers.

No matter how ugly the scenes were after the fight at UFC 229, there is no doubt it drew eyes to the product and was an event that will go down in history, just as predicted.