5 things that fans may have forgotten about UFC 229: Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

#2. Sean O’Malley was supposed to fight at UFC 229

Sean O'Malley's fight with Jose Quinonez was initially booked to take place at UFC 229

UFC 229 was a cleverly booked card by the promotion in terms of which fighters were featured on the undercard of the show.

The UFC clearly recognized that more eyeballs would be on the event than usual due to the huge main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. They made sure to showcase some of their finest young talent underneath the headlining stars.

Tony Ferguson’s win over Anthony Pettis saw his stock rise even higher than it already was, while Dominick Reyes and Derrick Lewis both went onto fight for UFC titles not long after the event. However, one fighter who the UFC hoped would steal the spotlight was unable to compete in the end due to a drug test failure. That fighter? None other than current bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley.

‘Sugar’ was set to fight Jose Quinonez in what was expected to be the main card opener. However, just five days before the event, it was announced that he’d been pulled from the card by USADA. It later came to light that O’Malley had tested positive for the banned substance ostarine. He was subsequently hit with a lengthy ban, meaning he didn’t return to action until March 2020, well over a year after UFC 229.

O’Malley’s star has risen substantially since his return thanks to wins over Eddie Wineland and Thomas Almeida.

However, if he had been able to fight at UFC 229, there’s a chance he could’ve seized the extra spotlight offered and may be further along in his UFC journey than he is today.

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#1. Many UFC fans thought Conor McGregor would beat Khabib Nurmagomedov

At the time, many UFC fans thought Conor McGregor stood a good chance of beating Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s win over Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 229 was one of the more one-sided fights of the Dagestani’s career. Essentially, ‘The Eagle’ beat ‘The Notorious’ up for four straight rounds before submitting him with a neck crank.

However, it’s easy to forget today, however, that at the time many UFC fans were actually favoring McGregor to defeat Khabib in their clash. Many fully expected the Irishman to come away with the UFC lightweight title. It wasn’t an illogical pick by any means, either. At the time, Khabib’s kryptonite was considered to be a powerful, accurate striker like McGregor, as fans had been concerned with how easily Michael Johnson had been able to tag him with punches in their fight at UFC 205.

More importantly, ‘The Notorious’ had traditionally dealt well with shorter wrestling-based fighters like Nurmagomedov. He’d knocked out both Chad Mendes and Eddie Alvarez, dispatching the latter with stunning ease. In fact, at the time, McGregor’s only loss in the UFC had come to Nate Diaz, an entirely different fighter to Khabib.

In hindsight, it seems ridiculous that anyone could pick against Khabib. However, realistically, that’s only because of the way he dealt with Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje in fights that came after UFC 229.

In October 2018, though? Few fighters were more feared inside the octagon than Conor McGregor. To many fans, Khabib Nurmagomedov was not one of them.