Khabib Nurmagomedov has blamed Conor McGregor’s poor performance for upsetting him such that he sparked a post-match brawl at UFC 229.
The Russian beat McGregor by submission in the fourth round of an eagerly-anticipated fight in 2018, before jumping into the crowd to attack the Irishman’s teammates seconds after securing victory.
Khabib was suspended for nine months and fined for his part in starting the ruckus, and has now revealed that he was frustrated that his win came so easily after months of tough preparation.
“First of all, I was preparing for war. I come inside the cage, I fight with this guy, and he tapped,” the retired Nurmagomedov told the Full Send podcast. “I’m like, ‘Why [did] I come here? Why [did] I train so hard for this?
“You’re going to tap easily like this?’ I just take his chin, you know, and he tapped. This one make me upset, too, you know, because I accept more than what I find inside the cage... I remember someone from his corner said something and it was crazy emotional.
“I’m not going to say I am proud of something like this, at the age of 33 years old I can say I wouldn’t have jumped into the crowd now.
“I am like, ‘Okay, this party is not finished.’ I don’t really remember, but who cares. I think he was happy because what would have happened if the referee wasn’t there?
“They never asked to fight again, there was no reason to make the rematch after he tapped out in four rounds.”
The encounter in Las Vegas was Khabib’s third-last fight in UFC, with the Russian retiring with an undefeated 29-0 record in mixed martial arts after beating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254.
He has since ventured into promotion, purchasing and renaming what is now Eagle Fighting Championship.
The 33-year-old has laughed off the challenge of YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, who has suggested he would like to take on Khabib in a debut exhibition MMA fight.
