Conor McGregor vs Khabib LIVE: Fight ends in chaos as police drag victorious Khabib off McGregor's cornermen
Re-live LIVE coverage of the biggest event in the history of the UFC
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Conor McGregor suffered the second defeat of his UFC career after being submitted by unbeaten UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in arguably the biggest event in the history of the UFC, but the fight descended into chaos immediately after it ended as both fighters were involved in post-match brawls.
A typically acrimonious build-up to the fight, with McGregor ending up in a New York courtroom after he attempted to attack his rival backstage at a UFC event in April, unsurprisingly led to bad blood between the pair, but no one was prepared for the scenes that followed the fight.
After dominating McGregor throughout the first three rounds, Khabib choked McGregor out to force him into submitting, but reacted by jumping over the Octagon fence to confront his teammates, while members from his own stable jumped into the Octagon to attack McGregor. Re-live all the action here.
Essential information:
When is UFC 229?
Khabib vs McGregor will take place on 6 October 2018, or 7 October for UK fans. The fight takes place in Las Vegas, which means it’s going to be a very late night (or very early morning) for all British fight fans.
Where is UFC 229?
Like most of the UFC’s big events, UFC 229 will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
It’s the same venue that staged Mayweather vs McGregor, as Nurmagomedov’s unanimous decision victory over Edson Barboza back in December 2017.
What are their records?
- Nurmagomedov: 26 fights, 26 wins. (8 KOs, 8 submissions, 10 decisions.)
- McGregor: 24 fights, 21 wins, 3 losses. (18 KOs, 1 submission, 2 decisions.) (All defeats by way of submission.)
Where can I watch it?
BT Sport.
Will Floyd Mayweather be in attendance tonight?
Conor McGregor’s boxing rival suggested as much shortly after the fight was formally announced
.
“I'll talk with (UFC President) Dana (White),” Mayweather told TMZ. “I may talk with Conor and get some tickets.”
Hopefully he’s been hitting the books as – shock horror – it doesn’t appear he’s much of an MMA fan.
“From what I know, (Nurmagomedov is) a hell of a grappler, and he can wrestle,” Mayweather added. “But you know, the fans want to see you stand up and fight. That's what they want to see.
“But Conor McGregor's a tough competitor. Conor McGregor's not going to back down from anyone. He's not scared. He's a warrior.”
Owen Roddy, McGregor’s striking coach, commented earlier in the build-up to this fight that he doesn’t think the amount of time the Irishman has spent away from the Octagon will count in Khabib’s favour.
“Other people are affected by that. Even myself, I would have been very nervous if I hadn't fought. Conor's different,” he said.
“When he goes in there, it doesn't matter if he fought last week or two years ago, he gets in there and he's just always on point, always focused.
“He's just the person that he always is in there. Nothing changes that.
“The work will be ending outside the Octagon and Conor will still just focus on what he's doing in the cage.
“He's just got an unbelievable ability to over-perform in the Octagon.”
A reminder of the main card this evening:
- Main event: Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) vs Conor McGregor (five rounds for lightweight title)
- Co-main event: Tony Ferguson vs Anthony Pettis (lightweight)
- Ovince Saint Preux vs Dominick Reyes (light heavyweight)
- Derrick Lewis vs Alexander Volkov (heavyweight)
- Michelle Waterson vs Felice Herrig (women's strawweight)
This is well worth watching: the final episode of UFC 229 Embedded ahead of tonight's fights.
Javier Mendez, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s striking coach, admits that he has been telling his man to take the fight to the ground as quick as possible.
“There’s no amount of time that we have that’s going to help us to try and get him to stand up. There’s no way possible. So, I’m not gonna say, ‘Oh yeah, we’re gonna get him ready’… come on…wake up…it ain’t gonna work.,” he said.
“We have to fight our strengths, we have to find ways of opening the doors to where his weaknesses are and likewise. This is basically the classic grappler versus striker fight. Keep in mind that they can both grapple and they can both strike, it’s just one is better than the other at (each discipline).
“We’re the better grappler, he’s the better striker, but that doesn’t mean we won’t strike, it just means he’s better. It’s about who plays whose game.”
Conor McGregor's late arrival led to Khabib Nurmagomedov carrying out his own press conference ahead of the pair's showdown at UFC 229.
The UFC lightweight champion turned up promptly at 3pm on Thursday at Park Theater in Las Vegas and completed his media duties before McGregor's arrival.
The Irishman would later blame his tardiness on the Las Vegas traffic but Nurmagomedov was uninterested in hanging around, depriving those in attendance the chance to see the interaction and a face-off between the pair.
He said: "I don't need to wait for nobody. This is 3pm, the fans are here, media are here, everybody is here. If somebody is late, this is not my problem. I don't think about him. I have a schedule, 3pm I am here. I have to make weight and worry about myself."
Here's how McGregor thinks tonight is going to play out...
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