Conor McGregor and UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov were each fined and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday for their roles in a post-match melee last October in Las Vegas.
Copies of the agreements showed the commission voted to hand Nurmagomedov a nine-month ban and $500,000 fine, while McGregor was given a six-month ban and $50,000 fine for a brawl that overshadowed Russian Nurmagomedov's successful title defense.
Both suspensions are retroactive to October 6, the date of their fight, and Nurmagomedov can have three months of his ban reduced if he delivers a public service anti-bullying message.
Nurmagomedov took to Twitter in response to his punishment saying only "politics forever" while McGregor's manager Audie Attar said in a statement: "We are grateful to the commission for their serious focus and the decision which will allow fans to see their favorite fighter return to the octagon."
Moments after McGregor submitted to a Nurmagomedov rear-naked choke, the Russian champion climbed the cage and launched himself at the men in his opponent's corner, setting off a prolonged brawl inside and outside the octagon.
Irishman McGregor then needed to be restrained from jumping out of the octagon himself and traded punches with some members of Nurmagomedov's camp.
The scuffles immediately dwarfed the title fight that was one of the most lucrative in UFC history.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES -- Mixed martial arts fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov has taken a page out of Conor McGregor's playbook and issued a challenge to undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather.
Nurmagomedov's challenge came in a video posted on Instagram by Mayweather's promoter Leonard Ellerbe who indicated he ran into the UFC fighter at a fight card in Russia.
"Let’s go Floyd. We have to fight now: 50-0 versus 27-0," Nurmagomedov said with Ellerbe standing next to him smiling. "We are two guys who never lose. In the jungle there is only one king. Of course, I am the king because he cannot drop McGregor but I drop him easily. Let’s go."
Nurmagomedov did not say whether he wished to fight Mayweather in a boxing or UFC match. Like McGregor, the Russian has no previous experience as a professional boxer.
McGregor made millions last year by taking on Mayweather in lopsided boxing match. Mayweather appeared to toy with McGregor in the early rounds before stopping the Irishman in the 10th to improve to 50-0.
Last weekend, Nurmagomedov retained his UFC lightweight crown, beating McGregor by fourth-round submission.
He then climbed out of the Octagon to fight with a member of McGregor's entourage who had been taunting him. McGregor also took some punches from members of Nurmagomedov's team.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Conor McGregor sipped whiskey and boasted he would need just one round to defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov and reclaim the UFC lightweight title during a typically wild news conference to promote his return to the octagon on Thursday.
McGregor repeatedly referenced the infamous April incident when he threw a metal dolly through the window of a bus carrying Nurmagomedov and other UFC fighters, leading to his arrest and eventual guilty plea.
The 30-year-old Irishman told reporters in New York that he was glad that he had been unable to coax the Russian off the bus that day.
"I just thank the lord Jesus Christ that man did not ... step foot off that bus," McGregor said, pointing to Nurmagomedov.
"Because if that bus door would have opened, this man would be dead right now," he added.
"He would be in a box and I would be in a cell."
The dolly incident came after McGregor was stripped of his UFC lightweight title because he declined to defend it and chose instead to fight a lucrative boxing match against Floyd Mayweather, which he lost.
McGregor, who owns a 21-3 record in UFC and is a former champion at featherweight and lightweight, predicted his first fight in the octagon in two years would be a short.
"I believe one," McGregor said when asked how many rounds it would take to dispatch Nurmagomedov, who he called a "rat".
"He's got a glass jaw," he said.
The undefeated Russian was the calmer of the two during the press conference, never raising his voice or getting out of his chair as McGregor tore into him and his family between plugs for his whiskey.
"This is my third fight in the last nine months. I'm 26-0, I've never lost a round," said Nurmagomedov, who is also 30.
"I don't know what this guy is talking about. I don't understand what he's going to do," said Nurmagomedov, who defeated Al Iaquinta by unanimous decision in April to claim the title.
"He thinks whiskey is going to help him?" asked the devout Sunni Muslim, who declined McGregor's offer of a glass of the spirit. "I don't understand."
The fight will be held Oct. 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
