Russia’s Nurmagomedov crushes McGregor, defends UFC title

Russian mixed style fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor from Ireland during the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 229 tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday, defending his lightweight title.

Nurmagomedov secured victory by submitting his opponent in the fourth round.

After the fight a mass brawl erupted involving the teams of fighters, and security guards and other fighters had to intervene. When the brawl was stopped, UFC President Dana White issued a warning to McGregor’s team. For security reasons, a decision was made not to hold an interview in the octagon and demonstrate the champion with the belt. Shortly after the incident, Nurmagomedov and McGregor left the building.

Police detained the Russian fighter’s manager Rizvan Magomedov and another member of the team for unknown reasons, a TASS correspondent reported.

Nurmagomedov made his first UFC Lightweight Championship defense. In April, he defeated his US opponent Al Iaquinta in a five-round fight for the UFC lightweight belt in New York.

The victory over McGregor was the 11th in Nurmagomedov’s career in the UFC. The Russian defeated his opponents during all 27 fights. For the first time, Nurmagomedov had an encounter with the UFC’s top fighter by weight class McGregor.

According to the Nevada Athletic Commission, Nurmagomedov will earn a record high purse of $2mln. The Irish will take home $3mln, the second highest result in his career. These sums do not include bonuses and also earnings for broadcast.

McGregor is one of the most famous fighters in the UFC history, who had 25 encounters in mixed martial arts and gained 21 victories. He won his first UFC title in 2015. McGregor became the first fighter to hold two UFC titles in different weight classes. In January, McGregor was stripped of his lightweight belt for abstaining from fights since 2016. In November 2017, he lost his featherweight belt.