K. Nurmagomedov (photo) beat McGregor. Photo: Reproduction / Facebook UFC
Conor McGregor spoke throughout the UFC 229 promotion, but inside the Octagon the voice heard was that of Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Russian submitted his arch-rival in the fourth round, shouted in the Irishman's face, returning the provocations and caused a huge mess at the end of the fight. He left the fighting area and attacked McGregor's team, causing a widespread fight. On the other side, people from the Russian team invaded the octagon and attacked McGregor. Security and police authorities had to enter the octagon to remove the athletes.
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With the result, Khabib scores his first title defense and his 27th consecutive victory. On the other hand, McGregor, who had not yet lost a title fight in the UFC, suffered his fourth defeat as an MMA professional.
The fight
The fight between Khabib and McGregor started tensely. The Irishman took the initiative in the dispute, connected the first blows and avoided the Russian's takedown attempt. However, in the second attack, Nurmagomedov clamped Conor's legs and took the duel to the ground. Despite his superior position, Khabib was unable to strike and the fight ended on the ground, with McGregor sitting against the fence. The public booed for several minutes, but the referee did not return the athletes to their feet. Only in the final seconds did the champion manage to land a resounding blow.
McGregor tried to close the gap in the second round. He fired the dangerous left and even tried a flying punch. However, when the Irishman was trying to grow in the fight, he was surprised by a blow against Khabib. He bent his knee and almost went to the ground, but managed to escape the flying knee applied by the Russian afterwards. With good assimilation of blows, Conor tried to respond to the attacks, but was easily taken down. On top, Nurmagomedov hit hard, throwing several punches from top to bottom at his rival's head. Even though he was injured, McGregor still managed to finish the partial by getting up.
After his almost perfect performance in the second round, Khabib was surprised by McGregor's recovery. The Irishman showed a lot of courage and landed good punches in the third round. The Russian was no longer able to time his takedown, while Conor abused left straights and dangerous right uppercuts, leaking the champion's guard. At the end of the partial, the third round was the first lost by Nurmagomedov in his entire career.
Supported by the crowd and his performance in the previous round, McGregor tried to make up for lost time in the fourth round. However, Khabib didn't want to give any luck. He quickly attacked the Irishman's legs, who still managed to defend in the first attack. However, Nurmagomedov insisted on the grip, took him down and reached his back. From the advantageous position, the champion quickly locked the rear naked choke on the Irishman's nose, who gave up the fight.
Angry, Khabib shouted in McGreogr's face after the fight, jumped over the cage and attacked the Irishman's jiu-jitsu coach. In the confusion, the Russian was attacked from behind. On the other side, members of Nurmagomedov's team attacked Conor while still in the cage. Security had to intervene and remove everyone from the Octagon.
In the end, Bruce Buffer announced Khabib Nurmagomedov's victory without any athlete inside the Octagon.
UFC 229 results
Main Card
Lightweight: Khabib Nurmagomedov finished Conor McGregor with a rear naked choke at 3m03s of R4
Lightweight: Tony Ferguson derrotou Anthony Pettis by technical knockout 5m from R2
Light Heavyweight: Dominick reyes defeated Ovince St-Preux via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Heavyweight: Derrick Lewis derrotou Alexander Volkov by knockout at 4m49s of R3
Straw weight: Michelle Waterson derrotou Felice herrig in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-26, 29-28, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Fly weight: Jussier formiga defeated Sergio Pettis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Welterweight Weight: Vincent Luque derrotou jalin turner by knockout at 3m52s of R1
Bantamweight: Aspen ladd defeated Tonya Evinger by technical knockout at 3m26s of R1
Lightweight: scott holtzmann derrotou Alan Nuguette by technical knockout at 3m42s of R3
Feather weight: It's Kunitskaya defeated Lina Lansberg via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Lightweight: Nik lentz derrotou Gray Maynard by knockout at 1m19s of R2
Welterweight: Tony Martin defeated Ryan LaFlare by knockout 1m from R3
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