About Saturday Night: Looking at the Post-UFC 229 Brawl

There were several facets of intrigue behind Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor. Prominent among them was that their feud was extremely heated and heavily involved each fighter’s camp in a way that we haven’t seen in MMA since Chute Boxe brawled with Hammer House in Pride’s ring in 2006. This was a fight whose promotion relied heavily on footage McGregor and his friends attacking a bus, on which Nurmagomedov sat, in retaliation for Nurmagomedov slapping McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov.

Given all that, maybe we should have expected something approximating what happened Saturday night.

After submitting McGregor, Nurmagomedov wasn’t done. As referee Herb Dean separated the fighters, Nurmagomedov said something—probably unkind—to McGregor. This isn’t particularly uncommon after grudge matches or otherwise noteworthy. Then Nurmagomedov and McGregor’s cornerman Dillon Danis, standing outside the cage, caught one another’s attention. Nurmagomedov hopped the fence, escaping the clutches of the maroon-coated athletic commission security, and attempted a drop kick that would make Kazuchika Okada wince.

Meanwhile, inside the cage, McGregor attempted to jump the fence and join the battle but couldn’t quite make it up there. He appeared to throw the first punch at a Nurmagomedov teammate that was also near the top of the cage, which set off a new round of excitement. Another Nurmagomedov teammate in a gray shirt entered the cage and started fighting with McGregor. He backed away as another Nurmagomedov teammate, this one in a red shirt, heroically scaled the fence to attack McGregor from behind. After McGregor escaped his attack, the first cornerman came back for round two. Apparently, two of these attackers were UFC fighters Zubaira Tukhugov and Islam Makhachev, who will certainly be ex-UFC fighters shortly. Thankfully, things more or less calmed down from there.

Certainly, this was not a battle of saints. Nurmagomedov’s actions were uncalled for and he should face a stiff sanction. If we’re comparing, I don’t find his actions any more reprehensible than McGregor’s bus attack in April. Had that been any fighter other than McGregor, he wouldn’t have fought again six months later, and in most cases, he would have been out of work. Nurmagomedov made his move on a much larger stage, perhaps put some fans in his immediate surrounding in at least a bit of danger, and while he’s now a major star, he’s not a McGregor level star. Taking all of that into consideration, it’s likely he won’t get off as easy as McGregor did from the April incident.

Outside of Nurmagomedov being forced to take some time off, I don’t foresee any major blowback to the UFC or the sport due to the melee. Perhaps that would have been the case ten years ago, but people know what they’re getting into when they pay to watch people fistfight inside a cage.

In fact, the brawl would boost the moneymaking potential of a rematch.

As for the fight itself, Nurmagomedov imposed his will on McGregor. Had it not been for the ruckus, the stories after the fight might have pondered whether Nurmagomedov has cemented his place as the best lightweight of all time.

The first round set up the remainder of the fight. Nurmagomedov was going to have to close the distance to win the fight, but closing the distance meant putting himself in the danger zone of McGregor’s left hand. This idea didn’t faze or deter Nurmagomedov in the slightest. He had no problems closing the distance. Early on, McGregor did well in stifling Nurmagomedov from stepping on the gas pedal. Even after Nurmagomedov had secured the takedown, he wasn’t able to launch any significant offense because he was too busy trying to control McGregor. However, by doing so he succeeded in chipping away at McGregor’s stamina.

The second round was all Nurmagomedov. He scored a flash knockdown which McGregor recovered quickly from. After taking McGregor back to the ground, Nurmagomedov unleashed furious ground and pound that came close to ending the fight. A kimura attempt from Nurmagomedov failed, and then McGregor got back to his feet, which gave his fans reason for hope. In the third round, McGregor stifled Nurmagomedov’s takedowns, but the Russian didn’t over-exert himself for them; he was comfortable in front of McGregor. Although McGregor took the close round, his punches didn’t seem to have the pop to end it in one blow.

Nurmagomedov wouldn’t be denied in the fourth round. While McGregor survived admirably on the ground in the first two rounds, Nurmagomedov was too overwhelming by this point. He took the former double champ’s back, secured what was either a neck crank or a brutal face crusher, which got the tap from McGregor.

The fight existed in Khabib Nurmagomedov’s world, and therefore it was a fight he couldn’t lose. These were well-rounded fighters with specialties—McGregor’s in striking and Nurmagomedov’s in grappling. Nurmagomedov proved that the gap in their grappling abilities far exceeded the gap in striking. McGregor has a lot to sharpen up on before he’d be favored in a rematch.

Still, a rematch seems like an inevitable destination. There have been no reports of pay-per-view numbers, but they were expected to smash the UFC’s record. Even though Nurmagomedov took Saturday’s fight convincingly, the aftermath makes a potential rematch even bigger.

Nurmagomedov should defend his title next against Tony Ferguson, but depending on his punishment, that may be a while or UFC may strip him of his title. If the UFC takes his title, they could explore Ferguson vs. McGregor for the interim championship. If that doesn’t play out, the natural fight for McGregor is a rubber match against Nate Diaz, with the winner likely progressing to a championship bout.

Dan Plunkett has covered MMA for 411Mania since 2008. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @Dan_Plunkett.