Khabib Nurmagomedov is not happy with the UFC. After the UFC 229 brawl between Nurmagomedov’s team and Conor McGregor’s team, UFC president Dana White said that the two Nurmagomedov teammates who jumped into the cage and attacked McGregor would “never fight for the UFC again.” One of those men was Zubaira Tukhugov, who was set to fight McGregor training partner Artem Lobov later this month.
Tukhugov vs. Lobox has been canceled, but there is no official word on whether Tukhugov has been released from the UFC — despite bragging about hitting McGregor in the cage.
And in an attempt to save his friend’s UFC career, Nurmagomedov took to social media to lash out against the UFC with a lengthy statement.
The lightweight champion asked the UFC why they never stepped up or punished Team McGregor for the bus incident in Brooklyn or for attacking his family, religion, and country. He also threatened the promotion by saying he would quit the UFC if they decide to release Tukhugov.
“I would like to address [UFC],” Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram. “Why didn’t you fire anyone when [McGregor’s] team attacked the bus and injured a couple of people? They could have killed someone there, why no one says anything about insulting my homeland, religion, nation, family? Why do you have to punish my team, when both teams fought. If you say that I started it, then I do not agree, I finished what he had started.
“In any case, punish me, [Zubaira Tukhugov] has nothing to do with that. If you think that I’ll keep silent then you are mistaken. You canceled Zubaira’s fight and you want to dismiss him just because he hit Conor. But don’t forget that it was Conor who had hit my another brother FIRST, just check the video.
“If you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too. We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise, I’ll break it myself. And one more thing, you can keep my money that you are withholding. You are pretty busy with that, I hope it won’t get stuck in your throat. We have defended our honor and this is the most important thing. We intend to go to the end.”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission said that they hope to hold disciplinary hearings with Nurmagomedov and McGregor by the end of November, so it doesn’t look like this is going to go away anytime soon.
