In the aftermath of Conor McGregor 's defeat by bitter UFC rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Irishman was accused of cheating several times in the fight.
McGregor was submitted in the fourth round by Nurmagomedov in the lightweight title fight at UFC 229 four years ago. It was a one-sided affair, with Nurmagomedov even knocking McGregor down before tapping him out with a neck crank.
Whilst McGregor spent most of the fight on his back, he was accused of cheating by holding the shorts of Nurmagomedov and putting his toes in the octagon fence to avoid to stop him from advancing. He also grabbed Nurmagomedov's glove and struck him in the back of head, both of which are illegal
MMA analyst Chael Sonnen has broken down the accusations that McGregor cheated in the fight. He thinks the difference between breaking a rule and being a cheater largely comes down to intent. "You can break a rule without cheating, for sure," he said on his YouTube channel.
Do you think Conor McGregor intentionally cheated against Khabib Nurmagomedov? Let us know in the comments section below
"Think of basketball, something less important than combat sports in terms of damage, but think about travelling. Travelling is against the rules. You break the rule, you'll even be punished for it. There will be a foul, it will be recognised. Are you a cheater?
"It's one of those hard things. You can make a mistake, you can do an accident. I only share that with you, I don't know what's in Conor's mind. In all fairness, when you're talking about all those clips, I've seen those clips, I've seen him hold the glove, I've seen the toes in the cage. It comes down to intent."
It's not the first time McGregor has been accused of cheating. In his 2017 crossover bout with Floyd Mayweather, he was accused of using illegal 'rabbit punches'. Dustin Poirier has also said McGregor had "three fingers in his glove" during their trilogy fight at UFC 264 last July.
"Breaking the rule and intending to break the rule ahead of time and get away with it is largely what we all as people associate with cheating, as opposed to a foul. What's in Conor's mind? Look, there's a lot of rules out there but there are only three big ones," Sonnen added.
"You don't hit 'em low, you don't bite 'em, you don't poke 'em in the eyes. That is basically as long as you follow that, no fighter is going to think that you're dirty."
