A brilliantly contested lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor was instantly marred by an ugly incident inside and outside of the Octagon on Saturday night at T‑Mobile Arena.
Nurmagomedov (27‑0) defended his 155‑pound championship by submitting McGregor (21‑4) at 3:03 of the fourth round, via rear‑naked choke.
Immediately after the bout, Nurmagomedov jumped over the Octagon and got involved in a short brawl with members of McGregor's corner.
Moments later, an unidentified man jumped into the Octagon and began throwing punches at McGregor, who was still recovering from the contest.
Holy fooking shite pic.twitter.com/NUpN9QwWSI
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 7, 2018
The events made a mockery of what was otherwise a hard‑fought, back‑and‑forth championship fight at the highest level.
In a shocking moment, Nurmagomedov briefly dropped McGregor with a right hand early in the second round.
The fight was the culmination of a rivalry that has been brewing for several years, and hit a boiling point in April when McGregor attacked a bus Nurmagomedov was riding in at Barclays Center.
Both men said they would not respect each other after the fight, regardless of the outcome.
If you look closely you can see Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson throwing haymakers out there pic.twitter.com/9xk0PEhTgo
— Barstool Sports (@barstooltweetss) October 7, 2018
It was McGregor's first bout since he won the lightweight championship in November 2016.
He fought Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match in August 2017, and the UFC stripped him of his belt for inactivity in April.
[Source: ESPN]
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