⚖️ Khabib Nurmagomedov: $500K fine, 9-month ban for UFC 229 brawl
Nevada's commission fined Khabib $500K of a $2M purse and McGregor $50K. Usman Nurmagomedov has not given a detailed account. ⏳
By MrMuscles, sports desk · Desk editor Gustavs Ērkšķis-Kreicbergs · · 5 min read
RULEDPhoto: Airotcivss · CC BY-SA 4.0What we know
- Nevada's athletic commission voted unanimously on Jan. 29, 2019 to suspend Khabib Nurmagomedov nine months and fine him $500,000 of a disclosed $2 million purse, ESPN reported.
- ESPN reported that Conor McGregor got a six-month suspension and a $50,000 fine, while Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Zubaira Tukhugov each got one year and $25,000.
- McGregor pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on July 26, 2018 over the Brooklyn bus melee and was ordered to do five days of community service, The Guardian reported.
- Merab Dvalishvili said in a video posted to X on Wednesday that Usman Nurmagomedov and others attacked him in an Abu Dhabi hotel lobby, the New York Post reported.
- DAZN reported that Usman Nurmagomedov had not publicly given a detailed account of the incident at the time of the initial reports.
Merab Dvalishvili said in a video posted to X on Wednesday that Usman Nurmagomedov and several associates came up behind him in an Abu Dhabi hotel lobby and started punching, the New York Post reported. DAZN reported that Usman had not publicly given a detailed account, and the Post said neither the UFC nor RAF, the wrestling league running the event, had commented as of Thursday. That story has its own page. This one is about the last time a Nurmagomedov brawl got the full paperwork: UFC 229, and the scoreboard it produced.
The scoreboard
| Who | Ruling | Fine | Ban |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khabib Nurmagomedov | Nevada commission vote, Jan. 29, 2019 | $500,000 | Nine months, retroactive to Oct. 6 |
| Conor McGregor | Nevada commission vote, Jan. 29, 2019 | $50,000 | Six months |
| Abubakar Nurmagomedov | Nevada commission vote, Jan. 29, 2019 | $25,000 | One year |
| Zubaira Tukhugov | Nevada commission vote, Jan. 29, 2019 | $25,000 | One year |
| Conor McGregor (Brooklyn) | Guilty plea to disorderly conduct, July 26, 2018 | Not reported | Five days of community service |
| Dillon Danis | Case to be resolved later, ESPN reported | Not reported | Not reported |
ESPN reported that the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the state's combat-sports regulator, voted unanimously, and that every punishment had been negotiated ahead of time with the state attorney general's office. The commission also offered to cut Khabib's ban to as little as six months if he took part in a local anti-bullying campaign.
"Khabib gets $500K and Conor gets $50K? I think it's bulls---."
Ali Abdelaziz, who manages the Nurmagomedovs, to ESPN, Jan. 29, 2019
"I am thankful for the Nevada athletic commissions fair assessment and handling of the brawl incident."
Conor McGregor on Twitter, as quoted by ESPN, Jan. 29, 2019
The timeline
April 2018: the hotel altercation
MMA Fighting reported that Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team were involved in a hotel altercation with McGregor's SBG Ireland teammate Artem Lobov on the Tuesday of UFC 223 week. That was the first domino. The commission's chairman would later say, of a different night, that a smack in a hotel lobby is not the same animal.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)By the numbers
- 4 mofrom first to latest entry on record
- 12receipts behind this story
April 5, 2018: the dolly
MMA Fighting reported that McGregor hurled a dolly through the window of a bus carrying UFC 223 fighters, shattering glass on Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg. Chiesa was pulled from the card by the New York State Athletic Commission, per the same outlet. UFC president Dana White said Lobov had been removed from UFC 223 and that a warrant was out for McGregor, per ESPN as cited by MMA Fighting.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)July 26, 2018: McGregor pleads guilty
McGregor pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was ordered to do five days of community service, be evaluated for an anger management program and stay away from the fighters injured, The Guardian reported. Prosecutors said the charges are technically violations, not criminal offenses, and that McGregor had already paid to fix the bus. The UFC declined to comment on the outcome, per the same report.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Oct. 6, 2018: UFC 229 and the held purse
ESPN reported that after submitting McGregor in the fourth round, Khabib leapt over the cage and got into a physical altercation with members of McGregor's corner. White said three people were arrested and released when McGregor declined to press charges. The Nevada commission held Khabib's $2 million paycheck and released McGregor's $3 million, while saying it would file complaints against both. Khabib publicly apologized to the commission, ESPN reported.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Jan. 29, 2019: the rulings
The commission suspended Khabib for nine months and fined him $500,000, dating the ban to Oct. 6 so he could return July 6, ESPN reported. McGregor took six months and $50,000, and could return as soon as April 6. Abdelaziz told ESPN that Khabib would pay the $25,000 fines for his cousin Abubakar and teammate Tukhugov.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)May 22, 2019: 35 days off
ESPN reported that the commission cut the one-year bans on Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Tukhugov by 35 days after a community service agreement of 10 hours each was approved. Khabib had said publicly that he would not fight until his teammates were cleared, per the same report. ESPN also reported that the UFC was trying to book him for UFC 242 on Sept. 7 in Abu Dhabi.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)The loose ends
Danis, a McGregor cornerman, called reports that he used an anti-Muslim slur a "smear," The Washington Post reported, and said the official investigation would vindicate him. ESPN reported that his case would be resolved at a later date. The outcome is not in the documents read.
"This isn't, 'We smacked each other in the face in a hotel lobby the week of a fight.' This is the night of the event, and it needs to stay inside that field of combat."
Nevada commission chairman Anthony Marnell, to ESPN, Oct. 9, 2018
Marnell's line is on record, and so is the new hotel-lobby footage from Abu Dhabi, where Dvalishvili's account is, for now, the detailed one. DAZN reported that UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev defended Usman on Instagram, arguing that Dvalishvili's earlier slap of a Dagestani wrestler in Georgia had helped create the tension. MrMuscles' scoring note: in 2019 the penalties came from a regulator after a hearing, with fines and bans on a schedule. Nothing in the documents read says a regulator has a say in Abu Dhabi.
Quick quiz · 3 questions
Earlier on file: Merab Dvalishvili, Usman Nurmagomedov held in Abu Dhabi brawl · Dana White to meet Trump Monday on press secretary job offer
The Khabib Nurmagomedov file
- Ruled
Nevada commission cut his teammates' one-year UFC 229 bans by 35 days after a community service deal, ESPN reported. This story
- Ruled
Nevada commission voted a nine-month suspension and $500,000 fine over the UFC 229 brawl, ESPN reported. This story
On file: The Khabib Nurmagomedov file · The Conor McGregor file · The Ultimate Fighting Championship file · The Usman Nurmagomedov file
The Ledger
On the record
- Nevada's commission voted on Jan. 29, 2019 to ban Khabib nine months and fine him $500,000; McGregor got six months and $50,000, and had pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in Brooklyn in July 2018.
Still rumour
- Dvalishvili's Abu Dhabi account is his own; Usman Nurmagomedov had not given a detailed one, and any jail or detention detail is not confirmed in the documents read.
- Any UFC or RAF penalty over Abu Dhabi: neither had commented as of Thursday, per the New York Post. The outcome of Dillon Danis' Nevada case is not in the documents read.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MrMuscles
Next on the docket
More Sports
Sports · 💸 English clubs' est. £99M sacking bill in 2010-11; Pierre Sage
Only one league-wide figure is on record: the LMA's 2010-11 estimate. No Sage payout is on record, so no ranking yet. ⏳
Sports · ⚽ Manchester United fire Michael Carrick after one win in 10
United confirmed the exit Thursday; Carrick's payout is not on record. Pochettino's $10M clause is reported, not confirmed. ⏳
Sports · 🥊 Merab Dvalishvili, Usman Nurmagomedov held in Abu Dhabi brawl
Reports say both fighters were detained after the hotel fight. No police statement is in the reports read; UFC and RAF had not commented.
SACKEDPhoto: BOOM Photography · Pexels License⚽ Crystal Palace sack Pierre Sage after 16 games, bottom of table
Palace confirmed Sage's exit with three staff; the club's statement thanks him. Payout terms are not reported. 🗣️