UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champion Conor McGregor each received suspensions and fines Tuesday for a brawl that unfolded after their UFC 229 bout in Las Vegas last October.
Nurmagomedov, who defeated McGregor in the octagon, was suspended for nine months and fined $500,000 for scaling the cage and attacking McGregor’s cornermen while his own entourage ambushed McGregor in the octagon.
McGregor was suspended for six months and fined $50,000 for engaging Nurmagomedov’s teammates and attempting to follow Nurmagomedov out of the cage.
Nurmagomedov's suspension can be reduced by three months if he participates with Las Vegas police in an anti-bullying public service announcement that the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) must first approve.
The suspensions for both fighters are retroactive to Oct. 6, the day the fight took place, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Nurmagomedov posted his reaction to the punishments on Twitter, writing: “politics forever.”
His manager, Ali Abdelaziz, complained about the penalties to ESPN.
"I don't think it's fair," Abdelaziz said of the fines. "Khabib gets $500K and Conor gets $50K? I think it's bulls---."
Early Wednesday, McGregor took to Twitter to thank the NAC for its "fair assessment" of the brawl incident and say that he's looking forward to his return to the octagon.
The two fighters have a history of bad blood going back to an incident last April when McGregor threw a hand truck at a bus carrying Nurmagomedov at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Nurmagomedov has complained that McGregor wasn’t disciplined for his actions that night.
"What about he talked about my religion, he talk about my country, he talk about my father? He come to Brooklyn and he broke bus. He almost killed a couple of people. What about this?"
