Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor has finally opened up about his post-UFC 229 brawl with current titleholder Khabib Nurmagomedov in an unexpected interview with Tony Robbins. McGregor sat down with the self-help guru to discuss the incident which led to a suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In typical McGregor fashion, the brash Irishman unloaded on Nurmagomedov with plenty of insults.
McGregor discussed Nurmagomedov’s attack on teammate Dillon Danis, and an attempted ambush by Khabib’s cousin, Abubakar Nurmagomedov.
“So what happened was, the fight was done, the match was done. (Khabib) climbed over the fence and jumped into the crowd to make a bit of noise, but as soon as he jumped into the crowd, he cowered away. I like to call it ‘scurried away,’ because they’re little rats, they are. I’ll being honest. He scurried away,” McGregor said. “I gave my respect and congrats. He won the match. Let’s see what happens next time. I’m confident we’ll get it again – let’s go again. I am humble in victory or defeat, no matter what. It’s a sport at the end of the day. A gruesome sport, but it’s a sport. So I respect it. I was defeated on the night.
“He jumped in to cause this chaos and went to attack. He was trying to just hide away when he jumped in, so he didn’t really do anything. But I saw this take place, I got up off the ground and said ‘OK, now I’m back in the mix’ (and) jumped on top of the cage. As I jumped on top of the cage, his brother came sprinting across and jumped up on top of the cage also to climb in and help him and join the fight.”
“I seen him there. It was like a Christmas present. He was right there. I smacked him right in the eye socket, and we started fighting on top of the cage. It got broken up. We ended up in the cage then. He was trying to get past the security. I was just kind of watching everything. I am very self-defense minded through growing up. I know where my entrances and my exits are. I’m very aware of my surroundings. So when the fight was breaking out, and I knew there was people in and out, there were a lot of rogue people that I wasn’t aware who was with who, who was with him, who’s with security.
“So I backed myself up against the cage wall, where I thought I was good. And what happened was, two of his teammates ran and jumped over, right behind me. And for me, with my mindset, it was fascinating for me to watch that back, because I got to a safe place, I was good. I got to a place where I was aware, and I could see any incoming threats and deal with it.
“They came right over my back, right over my back. But one of them, the first one, the Chechen man, ran in front of me and went over to the brother that got smacked and was like, ‘What happened?’ I don’t know what he was saying, but then he turned back and saw me. But I had already saw him, so as he turned back, boom – I smacked him. He wobbled. And as I smacked him and rocked him, another one jumped in from over the back, and he sly-hooked me from the side. And then I covered up.
“That got separated, and then the final one was the original brother who was on the top of the cage – he broke free from the security, ran at 100 miles an hour towards me. He threw a right hand. As he threw that right hand, I threw a left hand. Boom! There’s an image, an aerial image, of the right hand just whipping by my face, and my left hand just landing flush down the pipe! The final blow of the night! So that’s it. I win.”
With his win over McGregor, Khabib advanced to 27-0 in his professional career. His 27 consecutive wins give him the longest winning streak in all of mixed martial arts. Khabib first won the vacant lightweight championship on April 7, 2018, at UFC 223 when he scored a dominant decision win over Al Iaquinta in Brooklyn, New York. He became the first Russian to win a UFC title. The submission victory over McGregor was his first title defense. McGregor has also not competed since the loss.
When the two men return to action, we will have to see whether they ultimately settle the score in a rematch. If they are scheduled to meet again, let’s hope that the UFC brings out some extra security.
