Foe’s camp calls Conor ‘horrible’

LAS VEGAS – Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, placed the blame for Saturday night’s wild UFC 229 fracas firmly upon Conor McGregor, describing the Irishman as a “horrible human being.”

“You can’t bite a dog and not expect to be bitten,” Abdelaziz said. “You can’t play with fire and not expect to be burned. This man, Conor McGregor, is not a good guy.”

Abdelaziz admitted that Nurmagomedov should not have leaped over the cage and jumped into a group of McGregor’s teammates, thereby sparking a mass brawl. The Russian’s reaction came moments after he capped off a dominant performance to retain his lightweight title by forcing McGregor to tap out in the fourth round.

“I got zero respect for Conor McGregor,” Abdelaziz added. “His team, his whole entourage, zero. These guys, they demand respect, but you earn respect. How are you going to earn respect when you talk crazy about people’s family, religion, countries?”

The lead-up to the fight featured near-constant controversy. McGregor infamously attacked a bus carrying Nurmagomedov in Brooklyn in April, then littered the prefight promotion with a series of insults that targeted the Russian’s identity — he is a Muslim from the Dagestan region — and his elderly father.

Abdelaziz himself was caught in McGregor’s hyperbolic crossfire, being labeled a “terrorist” by the fighter in a public media conference. As the Nevada Athletic Commission continued to freeze Nurmagomedov’s fight purse pending an investigation and possible fine, Abdelaziz claimed the way the UFC used the bad blood to tote pay-perview sales was also a factor.

“Let’s be real,” he said. “The UFC promoted this fight with the videos. They didn’t promote this as going to a golf tournament. They promoted this as a fight.”