Mcgregor beaten as fight turns into mayhem
Conor Mcgregor tapped out in the fourth round of his comeback fight at UFC 229 against Khabib Nurmagomedov, who then climbed over the cage and set off a brawl by scuffling with another fighter in Mcgregor’s corner in Las Vegas yesterday.
The wild scene occurred after Mcgregor (21-4) got caught in a choke by Nurmagomedov (27-0), who defended his lightweight belt with an impressive victory over the Irish star who infamously attacked a bus carrying Nurmagomedov in Brooklyn last April.
But Nurmagomedov then exacerbated several months of hostilities between the fighters’ camps. Nurmagomedov stepped away from the prone Mcgregor and immediately pointed at the Irishman’s corner, shouting and throwing his mouthpiece.
The men in Mcgregor’s corner appeared to respond with taunts, and Nurmagomedov climbed over the fence and fought with Dillon Danis, a Bellator welterweight who trains with Mcgregor.
Meanwhile, two men entered the cage and sucker-punched Mcgregor, who defended himself before security personnel separated everyone.
Nurmagomedov and Mcgregor both left the ring before the championship belt could be put around Nurmagomedov’s waist.
Before the post-fight madness, Nurmagomedov firmly asserted his grappling dominance over Mcgregor’s striking skill in the Irish superstar’s first MMA bout in 23 months. Mcgregor hadn’t been in a fight since losing his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather last year, and Nurmagomedov proved an insurmountably tough opponent for his comeback.
Nurmagomedov and Mcgregor made no secret of their mutual loathing in the past few months, and the UFC used footage of Mcgregor’s attack on the bus to promote UFC 229, which could be the best-selling pay-per-view card in UFC history.