Khabib Nurmagamedov and Conor McGregor Have Both Been Heavily Penalized by the Nevada State Commission for Their Roles in the UFC 229 Brawl… While the Russian Champion Has Been Hit With a Massive Fine…
A meeting was held on Tuesday by the Nevada State Commission to determine the punishments for the participants in the UFC 229 brawl. Khabib Nurmagamedov, Conor McGregor, Abubakar Nurmagamedov and Zubaira Tukhugov were all penalized by the athletics governing body of Nevada.
The brawl went down in November after Khabib Nurmagamedov defeated Conor McGregor in the fourth round of their main event. The Russian UFC lightweight champion then went on to attack McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis, who will also be punished later this year. McGregor got involved when he was confronted by Khabib’s cousin Abubakar and Tukhugov.
The four men have been suspended retroactively and will have to pay fines for their misconduct. As this was the highest selling MMA card of all time, it was seen as a major embarrassment for the UFC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8hoveY2XPQ
Suspensions
Obviously, the two names we care about most are McGregor and Khabib’s. Both men received suspensions. McGregor will be eligible to return in April, as he has been given a retroactive six-month suspension. This is despite the NAC noting that this was the second time he was up in front of them, after the Nate Diaz bottle throwing incident.
Meanwhile, Khabib could also be able to come back in April. He was given a nine-month retroactive ban. However, if he participates in an anti-bullying programme it will be reduced by three months. Both men were also fined. McGregor was fined $50,000 for his role. Khabib was slammed with a figure ten times that number. He’ll have to pay a fine of a whopping $500,000 to return to action.
So in the end, punishments for the UFC 229 brawl look like this:
Khabib Nurmagomedov: Suspended 9 months, fined $500k. Suspension can be reduced to 6 months.
Conor McGregor: Suspended 6 months, fined $50k.
Zubaira Tukhugov, Abubakar Nurmagomedov: Suspended 1 year, fined $25k.
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) January 29, 2019
Dumb and Dumber
Meanwhile, Khabib’s minions Tukhugov and Abubakar were also punished for their role in attacking Conor McGregor in the octagon. They received the longest suspensions, as they will both be out for one year. Both men were also fined $25,000. It was definitely a lucrative day for the NAC.
Incidentally, this is the second time that Tukhugov has been fined in recent years. The Chechen has spent more time out of the octagon than in it. USADA banned him retroactively for two years in 2018, after detecting a banned substance in his system back in 2016.
Also, per Abdelaziz, Khabib is paying for his own fine, for his two teammates ($25k x 2) and $200k for his lawyer. So he’ll be paying $750k in total.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 29, 2019
What Next?
It remains to be seen whether or not Khabib follows through on his word not to return before his friends do. His manager has said that Khabib will be paying both his fine and his teammates. However, with all the money he’s going to have to cough up now, you’d expect him to return in the summer. It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Meanwhile, McGregor will be reasonably pleased with the Commission’s outcome. He was never likely to fight before April anyway. Meanwhile, he just bought a yacht. $50,000 is what he drops on a new watch. Now, let’s hope the MMA world can just move on and get these men booked to fight.
