Nevada regulator suspends Khabib, McGregor for UFC brawl
LAS VEGAS (AP) — UFC fighters Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor are being suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission for a brawl that erupted inside and outside the octagon after their lightweight title fight last weekend in Las Vegas, an official said.
Letters were sent Wednesday informing both mixed martial arts fighters that they will be suspended for at least 10 days effective Oct. 15, commission executive Bob Bennett said Thursday.
A commission investi- gation is pending and the panel can extend the tem- porary suspension when it meets Oct. 24, Bennett said. Nurmagomedov and McGregor could also appeal Bennett’s executive action at that time.
Nurmagomedov, who was praised by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting Wednesday in Moscow, responded with an angry Instagram post saying he was being unfairly punished. The fighter complained that discipline didn’t follow an incident last April in Brooklyn, New York, when McGregor shattered windows of Nurmagomedov’s bus with a hand truck after Nurmagomedov confronted one of McGregor’s teammates days earlier.
“They could have killed someone there, why no one says anything about insulting my homeland, religion, nation, family?” Nurmagomedov posted. “We have defended our honor and this is the most important thing. We intend to go to the end.”
McGregor’s manager, Audie Attar at Paradigm Sports Management, said he was confident the investigation will clear McGregor.