Nevada mulls keeping Khabib’s $2M

The Nevada State Athletic Commission reportedly is weighing whether to keep Khabib Nurmagomedov’s entire fight purse from UFC 229 over a post-fight brawl that broke out Saturday after the champion’s win over Conor McGregor in Las Vegas.

UFC president Dana White told TMZ the NSAC has taken Nurmagomedov’s purse pending an investigation and is considering keeping the entire $2 million. White criticized the NSAC’s consideration, saying Nurmagomedov undoubtedly should be fined, but nowhere near the entire fight purse.

After McGregor tapped out in the fourth round of his comeback fight Saturday, Nurmagomedov climbed the cage and leaped at the men in McGregor’s corner, setting off a prolonged brawl inside and outside the Octagon. Two men from Nurmagomedov’s entourage, meanwhile, climbed into the cage and attacked McGregor, who defended himself before security personnel rushed in to restore order.

White said Nurmagomedov should be suspended and acknowledged the UFC might strip its title from the Russian fighter.

“If he gets suspended, it depends on how long his suspension is,” White said. “And if it’s a long suspension, yeah, he’s probably going to get it stripped.”

The fight had been pegged as a comeback for McGregor, whose career was derailed in April after he attacked a bus carrying Nurmagomedov at Barclays Center. McGregor shattered the bus windows with a hand truck because he was angry about Nurmagomedov confronting one of his teammates earlier in the week.

During a post-fight news conference, Nurmagomedov apologized for the outburst, which he blamed on McGregor’s pre-fight taunts.

“You cannot talk about religion,” Nurmagomedov said. “You cannot talk about nation. You cannot talk about this now.”