Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has said that the events that transpired after the UFC 229 main event were part of the fight game.
Abdelaziz was a constant target for Conor McGregor during the build up to his lightweight title bout with Nurmagomedov on Saturday with the Dubliner repeatedly branding him as a ‘terrorist rat’ and inferring that he worked as a double agent for the FBI.
Abdelaziz manages Frankie Edgar, Cody Garbrandt and Fabricio Werdum as part of his management company, Dominance, and he added that while the melee that ensued after Nurmagomedov’s fourth round submission victory over McGregor was not their ideal way to celebrate the win, it was part of the fight game and an apparent result of McGregor’s pre-fight goading.
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Abdelaziz wrote in a post on his Instagram account:
“I want to congratulate my brother @khabib_nurmagomedov The undisputed, undefeated pound for pound king. There was never 2 Kings from beginning, only one king.
“This is not the way we want to celebrate such a dominant performance but when you talk about people’s country, family and religion and intentionally try to kill someone like he said and the cornermen running their mouths after, this is the fight game & shit happens.
“The fans got an amazing fight and a great show. I want apologize to the Nevada athletic commission, the governer of Nevada and I want to thank Las Vegas police department and security for doing such an unbelievable job. Now everyone understands who’s the amateur here.”
Nurmagomedov ran out of the cage and attacked McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis after the fight in what UFC President Dana White described as the ugliest incident in the promotion’s history.
Nurmagomedov took one question at the official post-fight press conference and questioned why people were talking about his actions and not McGregor’s role in a bus attack in Brooklyn earlier this year.
“First of all I want to say sorry to Athletic Commission. Sorry to Vegas,” he said.
“This is not my best side. I am human.
“He talk about my religion. He talk about my country. He talk about my father.
“He come to Brooklyn and he broke bus. What about this shit?Â
“Why are people taking about jumping on top of cage.
“This is a respect sport. This is not a trash-talking sport. You cannot talk about religion or nation. For me, this is very important.”
