The fight is over, but the war goes on
This past weekend was the long-awaited UFC 229. Finally! All the hype came to fruition, and for the most part, it did not disappoint. While this is a New York sports blog, it was essential for me to cover this event, as it served as the prelude to UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden in early November, another event with very high stakes.
I am relatively new as a real UFC fan; I’d heard about all the McGregor and Ronda Rousey fights, but never really watched. Back home, I bought the UFC 2 video game about a year and a half ago, and my friends and I were hooked immediately. It is an extremely challenging game, but the intensity and unpredictability in the game make it extremely fun. Before long, we were clamoring to watch real UFC fights, and it was so cool to see the fighters we played with in the game battering each other in real life. We became instant fans, but because most of the big fights are PPV and finding free streams are not easy, we always try to watch full replays when they are posted in the days after.
But this lead-up all started in early April, when Khabib and some members of his team confronted McGregor’s good friend and training partner Artem Lobov (a Chechen fighter), which ended with Khabib slapping Lobov over comments Lobov had made about him in an interview. Enraged, McGregor and his teammates flew from Ireland to New York City for the UFC 223 media day just a few days later, with McGregor throwing a dolly at a bus holding Khabib and other fighters in a fit of rage. This was terrible for two reasons: it actually ended up injuring two fighters on the card, forcing them to pull out, and McGregor was arrested on assault and criminal mischief charges and later had a court date. Meanwhile, Khabib was unaffected, but this created an incredible amount of animosity between the two of them.
Khabib Nurmagomedov (left) and Conor McGregor stare each other down ahead of their big fight
Over the next few months, the trash-talk intensified; McGregor, known as one of the best trash-talkers in sports today, went after everything from Khabib’s shady coaching staff (link) to his family and heritage, while Khabib, normally known as very reserved, began to engage in some talk as well, attacking his Irish heritage a few times. Both were on the record saying their beef would not end after the fight, regardless of the outcome; highlights of their pre-fight tour included McGregor offering Khabib a shot of his Irish whiskey line, and the two having to be separated at weigh-ins.
When fight night came around this past Saturday, the wait was agonizing. Watching at home, seeing 7 preliminary fights and 4 card fights before the main event, the build up was intensified. Almost all of those 11 fights were extremely entertaining, with several KO and TKO finishes, but Khabib and McGregor didn’t even start until after 12:30 am eastern time. The two did not touch gloves (as most opponents do) right before the fight, and the bad blood was evident. The crowd went wild as Round 1 began, and the fight did not disappoint. McGregor connected with a good punch to Khabib’s head in the opening seconds, but Khabib was able to secure a takedown about a minute later. For the rest of the round, Khabib stayed on top of McGregor, but neither fighter was able to do much damage.
Conor McGregor dodges a big swing by Khabib in Round 3
Round 2 was a VERY different story. About 30 seconds in, Khabib rocked McGregor with a huge right hand, nailing him on the jaw and knocking him down for a short moment. Although he was able to recover and avoid a charging Khabib, he was taken down just seconds later, and got absolutely manhandled. It really speaks to McGregor’s toughness and heart for how he was not only able to avoid getting knocked out but also get up again toward the end of the round. He was noticeably battered and exhausted, but still very much in the fight. Round 3 stayed up top, with McGregor stuffing multiple takedown attempts by Khabib and outstriking him. But after some back-and-forth punching to start Round 4, Khabib took McGregor down yet again, worked to McGregor’s back and got a rear naked choke, forcing him to tap at 3:03 in the round.
After the fight was when the real craziness ensued. After being pulled off McGregor by referee Herb Dean, Khabib and a teammate of McGregor’s were jawing, and Khabib actually cleared the octagon fence andwent after him, leading to a massive brawl which spilled back into the octagon. As Khabib jumped down toward Team McGregor, some of his teammates climbed into the octagon and went after McGregor himself. Tons of security guards leapt into action to try and restore order, but Khabib teammate Zubaira Tukhugov sucker punched McGregor in the side of the face from behind. It was such a chaotic situation that both fighters had to be escorted out surrounded by security, and the UFC refused to give Khabib his championship belt in the octagon for fear of inciting further conflict.
What’ll happen next is not yet known, but an extensive Nevada State Athletic Commission investigation is under way. UFC president Dana White spoke of a few possibilities, saying that it’s possible that Khabib may be suspended from fighting and that he may have difficulty gaining a visa for re-entry into the country due to possible criminal charges toward his team, but one thing is certain: both Tukhugov and fellow Khabib teammate Islam Makhachev will both be barred from the UFC for the rest of their fighting careers.
While it appears McGregor apologized to Khabib for some comments, and Khabib’s father forgave McGregor, Khabib has assured that there is still plenty of beef between the two fighters.
Looking toward UFC 230 at MSG, Derrick Lewis set himself up for a heavyweight title shot with his KO of Russian giant Alexander Volkov in the final seconds of the fight.
Derrick Lewis finishes Alexander Volkov with punches in the final seconds of their bout
Although he admitted he needs to “do some cardio” in possibly the funniest interview in sports this year, Lewis is set to take on reigning heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, a very quick turnaround from a fight in which Lewis was being thoroughly beaten before his late knock-out.
Roscoe New York Sports 