UFC fans wanted a brawl, and they got one, although most of the action took place after Conor McGregor had tapped out of a chokehold by Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The two fighters have been at each other’s throats for weeks, and their pre-fight press conference was unusually nasty, even by modern-day ‘hype everything up to the max’ standards.

UFC 229 delivered, but it was the post-fight free-for-all that really captured the world’s attention.

First of all, here’s the full fight, although the quality isn’t great:

Then there are the condensed highlights, coming in at just over a minute:

Fine, but let’s see the brawl now.

Here’s a scene-setter:

Craziest 45 seconds of #UFC229 disgusting scenes Nurmagomedov should be ashamed and severely punished. pic.twitter.com/hIZrPFgzxj

— Mikey (@Mikey_TTID) October 7, 2018

This one covers the whole scene pretty well:

To fully appreciate just how batshit crazy Nurmagomedov went, have a look at this leap at the start of the video:

Insane! Khabib Nurmagomedov attacking Conor McGregor’s corner after submitting the Irishman in the fourth round of #UFC229

Crazy scenes in Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/L50234YkIQ

— bettingexpert (@bettingexpert) October 7, 2018

It’s hard to watch the brawl without feeling like Conor McGregor was ambushed, and the Russian fighter and his team lost their marbles, but this is also worth a closer look.

That’s Conor McGregor lashing out at one of Nurmagomedov’s men, before he was set upon:

You started the second fight. Don’t cry when you got hit back. pic.twitter.com/LmfiMzGsHi

— Charezar (@Dullaki) October 7, 2018

The two fighters had been building up the nasty rhetoric for a while, but at the final press conference, one day before the two squared off, Conor took things to the next level.

Calling Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager a “f—ing snitch, terrorist rat”, he insinuated that Ali Abdelaziz was involved in the 9/11 terror attacks.

That’s one hell of an accusation from Conor McGregor#UFC229pic.twitter.com/tBRZqiCJmI

— Mark Suleymanov (@TheMARKOut1) October 4, 2018

Via Fox, here’s what he was referring to:

McGregor may have been referring to reports that the Egyptian manager worked as a counterterrorism informant. Abdelaziz is mentioned in the 2013 book “Enemies Within: Inside the NYPD’s Secret Spying Unit and bin Laden’s Final Plot Against America.”

The book’s authors, Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, claimed the New York Police Department recruited Abdelaziz “to work as a mole within a Virginia-based arm of a group called Muslims of America.” The FBI suspected Abdelaziz was a double agent and the government tried to deport him, according to the book.

At his post-fight press conference, Khabib Nurmagomedov went the ‘sorry not sorry’ route:

Khabib Nurmagomedov – sorry not sorry?#ufc229 pic.twitter.com/BeWV6coAR2

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 7, 2018

The fallout post-brawl continues, but here’s a decent wrap via the Independent:

• Security personnel eventually separated the two entourages. Both McGregor and Nurmagomedov were given police escorts out of the T-Mobile Arena.
• UFC President Dana White made the decision not to present Nurmagomedov with his belt because of security concerns.
• White later said that three of Nurmagomedov’s team had been arrested and “were on their way to jail”.​
• Zubaira Tukhugov, a featherweight with a 3-1 record in the UFC, was one of those involved in the attack on McGregor.
• McGregor however decided not to press charges and the men were released.
• White has promised that any contracted fighters who were involved in the brawl will never fight for the promotion again. Tukhugov had been due to fight McGregor’s sparring partner Artem Lobov later this month.
• Nurmagomedov’s purse will be withheld pending an investigation by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
• Nurmagomedov may also face criminal charges for his role in the brawl, potentially complicating any US visa applications he makes in the future.
• However he did at least receive a congratulatory phone call from President Vladimir Putin.
• White added that no decision has yet been made on whether Nurmagomedov will be stripped of his lightweight title.
• Bob Bennett, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, has said that he has no comment at present because of an ongoing investigation.

All in all, I guess people got their just rewards for waking up early to watch.

Going forward, though, UFC may want to try and be less of a circus, because it isn’t exactly the best look.

Oh, and you can’t talk about UFC 229 without mentioning this quite unreal interview by Derrick Lewis:

[source:fox&independent]