Khabib Nurmagomedov intends to throw his weight around now that he’s defeated Conor McGregor.
McGregor remains the UFC’s most reliable cash cow but Nurmagomedov hopes that his dominant victory over ‘The Notorious’ will see him rewarded with a bit more pull in terms of what goes on behind the scenes at the world’s pre-eminent mixed martial arts organisation.
Nurmagomedov has yet to be paid by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his role in the melee which marred the main event of UFC 229 on Saturday night.
After successfully defending his lightweight title, ‘The Eagle’ jumped out of the Octagon to confront McGregor’s team while several members of the undefeated Russian’s camp attacked McGregor, who could be seen throwing a punch on the top of the fence.
It was a disgraceful end to what was supposed to be the biggest fight in UFC history and severe repercussions are expected, particularly for the individuals who stormed the cage.
Really good angle of Khabib/McGregor UFC 229 post-fight stuff https://t.co/ac1XKP4MNT
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) October 7, 2018
UFC President Dana White insisted in his post-fight press conference that any UFC-contracted fighters who had rushed the Octagon would be cut from the roster.
And that promised punishment has not sat well with Nurmagomedov, who has vowed to quit the UFC if Zubaira Tukhugov – the Russian featherweight who was scheduled to fight McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov at the end of this month – is fired for striking McGregor on Saturday night.
“I would like to address the UFC,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram.
“Why didn’t you fire anyone when their team attacked the bus and injured a couple of people? They could have killed someone there, why no one says anything about insulting my homeland, religion, nation, family?
“Why do you have to punish my team, when both teams fought. If you say that I started it, then I do not agree, I finished what he had started.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Boy2mkdHcLA/?hl=en&taken-by=khabib_nurmagomedov
“In any case, punish me, Zubaira Tukhugov has nothing to do with that. If you think that I’ll keep silent then you are mistaken. You cancelled Zubaira’s fight and you want to dismiss him just because he hit Conor. But don’t forget that it was Conor who had hit my another Brother FIRST, just check the video.
“If you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too. We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my Brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise I’ll break it myself.
“And one more thing, you can keep my money that you are withholding. You are pretty busy with that, I hope it won’t get stuck in your throat. We have defended our honour and this is the most important thing. We intend to go to the end.”
Tough talk.
