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The UFC 229 pay-per-view headlined by Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov stands as the highest-selling PPV in UFC history. It will take a long time and a bitter rivalry between two icons of the sport to come close to hitting those numbers again.
UFC 229 saw McGregor return after a hiatus to challenge then-lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The event was a huge success for the UFC and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was catapulted into overnight stardom, as often happens with those who fight Conor McGregor. 'The Eagle' didn't just beat the Irishman; he completely dominated the former double champion, eventually securing a submission victory in round four.
While many had anticipated Nurmagomedov's dominance, nobody anticipated him besting Conor McGregor in the striking department. The overhand right that dropped McGregor was one of the most shocking moments of the fight. However, the most shocking moment of the event came right after the fight, when Nurmagomedov jumped the fence, and all hell broke loose.
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After securing an extremely dominant victory, Khabib Nurmagomedov still seemed livid and furious. 'The Eagle' threw his mouthpiece towards McGregor's team, and when Dillon Danis suggestively mocked the Russian to trade blows, the Dagestani made the gravest mistake of his career.
'The Eagle' lived up to his name and flew across security personnel to jump into the thick of Conor McGregor's team, unleashing an attack on McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis. A brawl broke out inside the octagon as well, as some of Khabib Nurmagomedov's teammates appeared to attack McGregor.
In a strange turn of events, 'The Eagle' was escorted out, and Bruce Buffer made the winning announcement to an empty octagon. While Nurmagomedov apologized in the post-fight press conference, the incident remains one of the darkest ones in UFC history.
Like any other incident of this magnitude, it wasn't caused in the spur of the moment but was rather a breaking point of all the cumulative incidents in the build-up to the fight.
Here are 5 things that played a role in causing the infamous post-fight brawl at UFC 229:
5) Khabib Nurmagomedov's showdown with Artem Lobov
This was the incident that set all the other events in motion. Artem Lobov is a former UFC fighter of Russian descent fighting out of Ireland and a good friend of Conor McGregor.
Lobov made some derogatory comments about Nurmagomedov, which the latter didn't take lightly. So 'The Eagle' gathered some of his teammates and paid a visit to Artem Lobov, intimidating McGregor's friend and warning him against making similar comments in the future.
4) The infamous dolly incident
A day after Nurmagomedov and his teammates warned Lobov, Conor McGregor gathered a group of men and flew into Brooklyn. They stormed into the building where UFC 223 weigh-ins took place and cornered a bus in the parking lot.
This bus was ferrying UFC fighters and their teammates, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rose Namajunas, Michael Chiesa, Ali Abdelaziz, and others. In a fit of rage, Conor McGregor picked up a metal dolly lying in the corner and threw it at the bus, shattering the glass.
Not only did this intimidate everyone inside the vehicle and become a huge security concern, but it also injured Michael Chiesa, who had to be forced out of his scheduled bout.
3) Conor McGregor's unruly behavior
Once the fight was scheduled, Conor McGregor pulled out all the stops in the lead-up. Known for his notorious behavior to gain a psychological edge, McGregor may have gone too far in the lead-up to the UFC 229 fight.
Conor McGregor showed up with both his defunct belts, proudly posing with them for the cameras, for a fight where he was a contender going up against the champion. This further angered Nurmagomedov when Dana White asked the staff to bring McGregor's belts for the cameras.
Additionally, Conor McGregor appeared to be more involved with promoting his whiskey brand Proper Number Twelve than the fight itself. The Irishman seemingly crossed the line when he offered a shot of whiskey to his opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov, a devout Muslim. Their religion prohibits alcohol consumption, and McGregor knowingly offered 'The Eagle' a drink to irk him and incite a reaction.
2) McGregor's trash talk
Conor McGregor's trash-talking skills are legendary. Not only have they always been entertaining, but they are also what has helped him gain psychological advantages against his opponents.
'Notorious' is proficient in the art of war. He talks and demeans and angers his opponents so much that by the time the fight comes around, all they want to do is knock his head off. This is where Conor McGregor wins.
He uses their anger against them, waiting for the precise moment to launch his inch-perfect counter striking, leaving them beaten and confused on the mat.
However, Conor McGregor faced a different kind of man in Khabib Nurmagomedov. A man who refused to react to the Irishman's repeated taunts and insults, largely keeping a poker face. This riled McGregor up further, who proceeded to attack Nurmagomedov's family, religion, community, and even his manager Ali Abdelaziz.
While Khabib Nurmagomedov kept his emotions to himself throughout the lead-up to the fight, he unleashed it all during the fight and in the ensuing brawl.
1) Khabib's hidden rage
Khabib Nurmagomedov displayed incredible restraint and composure in the lead-up to the UFC 229 fight. Despite Conor McGregor attacking the bus and verbally insulting Nurmagomedov's country, family, religion, and community, 'The Eagle' largely kept a poker face and refrained from reacting.
However, the Dagestani's hidden anger unleashed and took everyone by shock when he jumped the octagon fence and tried to attack McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis.
This was extremely out of character for Nurmagomedov, who usually conducts himself with poise and restraint. However, it appears that bottling all his anger in the lead-up to the fight finally caught up with him.
Khabib Nurmagomedov proceeded to issue a formal apology in his post-fight press conference to the UFC, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, and fans. However, it was too little too late.
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