Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagamedov are set to Face a Nevada Athletic Commission Tribunal Today… Many Conspiracy Theorists Believe That Neither Man Will Face a Lengthy Ban… Here’s Why…
So we’re finally going to get an answer to the question of what will happen to the main participants in the UFC 229 brawl. After beating Conor McGregor convincingly, Khabib Nurmagamedov decided the best way to celebrate was to jump out off the side of the cage and attack the ever-annoying Dillon Danis, for reasons that remain uncertain.
This instigated a very messy brawl that looked far worse than it was. Nobody really got hurt, but it was embarrassing in front of the biggest global audience that an MMA show has ever seen. McGregor, Khabib, Dillon Danis, and two of Khabib’s teammates were suspended.
The UFC has made no secret of the fact that they think any ban over six months would be ridiculous. They’re very clearly trying to influence the outcome, and to be honest, we really can’t blame them. Take a look at some of the stats below.
Massive
In a tweet, the UFC decided to reveal just how much good UFC 229 did for Nevada. There’s a few very interesting statistics there that show just how major an event it was, and the financial benefits that it created for the Las Vegas community:
- $86.4m total economic output
- $17.2m total salaries and wages paid
- 414 jobs supported in Southern Nevada
- $3.7m total taxes paid by visitors
- 40 per cent of UFC 229 visitors travelled from international locations
- 50 per cent of attendees were between the ages of 21 to 34
- 50 per cent of attendees reported an annual household income of $100,000 or more
Record-Breaking
UFC president Dana White was quick to remind everybody willing to listen to him, that he was right. He told ESPN that this was the biggest MMA event in the history of the sport and that it had a massive economic impact in Las Vegas. Will that help to soften the NAC’s stance towards the brawl?
“During the build-up to UFC 229, I said it was going to be the biggest event in UFC’s history, and now we have all the numbers to prove it.”
“Khabib vs McGregor smashed our records for pay-per-views, social media impressions, and global viewership, and now we know it set records for economic impact here in Las Vegas. None of this would have been possible without the support from the Las Vegas community and UFC’s loyal fans, the best in sports.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8hoveY2XPQ
Action
There’s no doubt that the NAC will take some action towards the men involved. However, it’s likely to be a suspension of no more than six months. That will also be retroactive from November when the incident took place. More than likely neither of these men would have been active until the early summer anyway.
Oh, and a certain Mr Jon Jones will find out whether or not he will be granted a licence to fight in Nevada again. If he doesn’t, it will plunge his upcoming title defence against Anthony Smith into doubt. The UFC drama never ends.
