October 6, 2018, will go down in UFC history as one of the most iconic days for an electric rivalry. Almost all MMA fans know what happened that day at UFC 229. The rivalry between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor reached its peak that day, culminating in a chaotic post-fight brawl that left a lasting impact on the sport’s history. Tensions were already high between the Dagestani phenom and ‘The Notorious’ months before the bout because of the Irishman’s vitriol towards ‘The Eagle’.
This was enough to make their rivalry reach a boiling point, and during D-Day, ‘The Eagle’ ensured a rear-naked choke, compelling McGregor to tap out in the fourth round. But who knew that a second lap to the fight was still left and would unexpectedly occur inside the T-Mobile Arena? Immediately after Khabib won, he didn’t celebrate because he was furious. Khabib leaped over the cage and charged toward McGregor’s cornerman, Dillon Danis, initiating a brawl that spilled into the crowd. Simultaneously, McGregor was confronted by members of Khabib’s team inside the octagon. But why did the calm and dignified Khabib resort to this?
Let’s hear from his coach and AKA head coach, Javier Mendez. He recently sat down with Tracy Harmoush and revealed what went down during this iconic day. Mendez revealed, “Khabib broke, I think at the very end of the fight, yeah, I think so, because he jumped the cage and went after his coaches, and I never asked him, believe it or not, I never asked him why he did that. Till a couple of years later, I said, ‘Khabib, why did you go after the cage? Why did you go after Dillon Dannis?’ he goes ‘Well, coach, because you know his head coach, you know, was too old and it would be disrespectful, so I had to go after Dillon he was more my age.”
He further added the reason and disclosed, “So, I said, ‘Ah, it was respected even in his anger,’ you know, he went after Dillon yeah he couldn’t touch the coach, he had to go after the younger one and that was Dillon Danis.’ Dillon was the one talking the most stuff anyway. He was egging Khabib through the whole fight.”
Khabib revealed the reason as well to Daniel Cormier. After the drama unfolded, ‘DC’ had gone to the Hall of Famer to calm him down. Cormier explained during the UFC 229 post-fight presser, “So, when I finally get to Khabib, he’s going crazy, it’s the funniest s—t I’ve ever seen. He’s yelling. He saw me, and I said, ‘Yo, what the f— is going on’? He goes, ‘I want my belt’. I go, ‘Ok, just relax’. And Dana White comes over and I say, ‘Just give him his belt’.”
MMA: UFC 229-Nurmagomedov vs McGregor, Oct 6, 2018 Las Vegas, NV, USA Khabib Nurmagomedov red gloves fights Conor McGregor blue gloves during UFC 229 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports, 06.10.2018 21:59:59, 11394153, NPStrans, T-Mobile Arena, Khabib Nurmagomedov, wow, MMA, TopPic, Conor McGregor PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xStephenxR.xSylvaniex 11394153
After they went backstage stage ‘The Eagle’ revealed that he jumped the cage because he simply lost control. This day left such an impact on both McGregor and Khabib that they still talk about it. The Dagestani spoke about the incident again in 2024 at the Inspire Me podcast. He said that he wanted to ‘bite someone’s heart.’ The Dagestani juggernaut went on to add: “Maybe you can feel this. I am ‘The Eagle’, and when ‘The Eagle’ is hungry, it’s not good. He has to hunt. That’s why.”
In fact, famous UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste witnessed the brawl live and revealed in an interview with Dingo and Danny on Monster Energy’s YouTube channel that it was “scary” and left her unsettled. On top of that, McGregor is still haunted by UFC 229, it seems.
Conor McGregor spat at a fan of Khabib Nurmagomedov
A video of ‘Mystic Mac’ was doing the rounds on the internet recently, where he was seen at a casino in Las Vegas. And what did he do this time? Well, he decided to spit on a man’s face because the man shouted Nurmagomedov’s name at him. The incident reportedly took place at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas as McGregor was walking along with his team.
The man who allegedly supported Khabib chanted, “Let’s go Khabib”, which made McGregor furious. The former dual-weight champ walked up to the man and spat on his face, saying, “I spit in your face, and what did you do? Nothing!“ So clearly, he has gotten over his loss to Khabib after all these years.
He is still taking jibes at Khabib and posted a video on Instagram to take a jibe at ‘The Eagle’, Islam Makhachev, and Ilia Topuria, comparing his number of knockouts with his rivals‘. He said: “3 little staph infections. #KOKINGMACGREGOR,” as he bragged about his 19 knockouts compared to Khabib’s 8, Topuria’s 6, and Makhachev’s 5 KOs.
Right now, Khabib is retired with an undefeated 29-0 and training his team of incredible fighters who are taking over MMA. And McGregor? He is busy outside the Octagon handling his million-dollar businesses like BKFC and Forged Irish Stout while trying to run for the Irish presidential elections. What do you think about the duo’s rivalry and Khabib’s change in demeanor during the same? Tell us your thoughts below.
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