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.

It’s Time To Start Celebrating Wins, Not Changes

 

It feels like the Warriors winning yet another championship against the Cavs was ages ago, but we are finally only three weeks away from the Knicks season opener! The media has had ridiculously high hopes each year since they last made the playoffs in 2013, but I truly feel that this year represents our best shot at the playoffs since then. Is our top gun Kristaps Porzingis going to miss most of the first half of the season with his torn ACL? Probably. Are we going to be relying heavily on a lot of unproven players? You bet. But that’s what makes it all the more tantalizing – this season has the most uncertainty surrounding the team since they traded for Carmelo Anthony in 2011.

Back home on Long Island, my friends and I are the biggest, most die-hard Knicks fans I’ve known. New York fans generally demand success and are notoriously harsh on their teams, but we take it to the next level; when Phil Jackson was fired on a June day in 2016 (one of the best decisions Knicks ownership has ever made), one of my best friends had a party that night – it didn’t matter that it was a Wednesday, and that we all had to get up for work the next morning – we just wanted to celebrate. And as a Knicks fan since I first started watching basketball in elementary school, I’ve heard all the jokes…

SPOT. ON. 

Knicks fans always keep it real – when the team plays well, they will get loud and supportive, but are unafraid to boo and heckle after a string of bad plays. At a game against the Grizzlies at Madison Square Garden in 2016?, Knicks point guard and Spanish national José Calderon dribbled to the top of the arc and took the first shot of the game, an open three pointer… and air balled. Badly. A few rows in front of me, a heavily intoxicated man stood up and yelled out the following, heard by all over a near-silent crowd: “Hey Calderon! You’re trash! Pack up your sh*t and go back to Spain!” Yikes. But over the next two minutes, Calderon scored the next seven points in a row, and that same guy stood up and started an “MVP!” chant in our section for him.

 

That man epitomizes most Knicks fans – not in sharing that same sentiment of telling foreign players to go home, but that they have a constant love/hate relationship with everyone on the team – they could belittle a player and boo him throughout a whole game if he isn’t performing, but the next game, those fans will be on their feet screaming and chanting if he drops 30 points, with the previous game forgotten.

SF Michael Beasley (8) is fired up upon getting MVP chants on his way to 32 points in a win against the Celtics

But this year, finally, FINALLY, things are looking up. We drafted two studs this year – Kevin Knox 9^th overall and Mitchell Robinson in the second round, but both have shown the potential to be all-stars within the next few years. Trey Burke played great and was able to shake his “draft bust” label, Frank Ntilikina showed glimpses of greatness last year (not to mention he just turned 20 and grew to 6-foot-6 this offseason), Enes Kanter improved his conditioning/stamina while remaining the beast he is, Tim Hardaway Jr. will have the chance to be a top scorer with Porzingis out… I could go on and on and on about the players this year. But it’s the coaching change that’ll be the biggest difference.

 

We got an awesome new coach in David Fizdale, and he’s instilled a playoff mentality into the team – in fact, Kanter was quoted at the team’s media day saying, “When I think about the playoffs, my nipples get hard.” Kinda weird, yeah, but hey, seems like everyone’s really pumped about making the playoffs this year. And, in a reversal of Phil Jackson’s worst move with the Knicks, Joakim Noah and his awful contract are finally being released! Now, the Knicks are in the financial position to go for Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and other top free agents next summer. Worst comes to worst, we have another losing season, but since our team has so many guys under 25 years old, they’ll get to develop, and we’ll have another high draft pick to snag another future star. Get your popcorn, Knicks fans – this may finally be the year the Garden goes from looking like this to looking like this ⇓ . 

 

Other NBA News:

-Timberwolves star Jimmy Butler officially wants out – coach Tom Thibodeau met with him to try and convince him to stay, but to no avail. Butler listed three teams he’d prefer to be traded to: the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers… and the KNICKS! It remains to be seen what happens, but a Butler – Knox – Porzingis front court would be incredible for years to come.

-The famously emotionless Kawhi Leonard is finally back; at the Toronto Raptors media day, he actually laughed… kind of. Just take a listen… it sounds like this might be the first time he’s ever done that.