Headlining the event was the mouthwatering match-up of current undefeated Lightweight Division Champion Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov defending the strap against UFC’s biggest money-making star Conor “The Notorious” McGregor.
The night was excellent with not a single bad bout on the card, all capped off with The Eagle making McGregor tap out in Round 4 at 3:03.
Of course, no one is talking about that. Everyone with a social media account is talking about Nurmagomedov hopping the fence of the octagon and attacking McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis, which resulted in a post-fight brawl. An unprecedent act in UFC.
Many fans and analysts alike are calling the two an embarrassment to the sport, some even say both should not only be suspended but Nurmagomedov should be stripped of his championship. People were shocked that something so appalling could happen. They shouldn’t be.
For a long time, White has used the real-life issues and life events to make rivalries personal and build interest for fights. This one in particular was especially controversial and hypocritical.
The UFC, as well as the coverage of the event seem to leave out that the rivalry was kicked off by McGregor himself attacking the bus of Nurmagomedov by throwing a chair through the window.
“This is the most disgusting thing that has ever happened in the history of the company,” Dana White said about that event.
After the fact is when White would book McGregor in a title fight with one of the biggest paydays in the history of the sport and use footage of that “disgusting thing” in the video package to promote the fight.
Combined with this, the build was also riddled with McGregor and company insulting Nurmagomedo’sv faith, often making offensive and Islamophobic comments towards him, such as referring to his manager as a terrorist and calling Nurmagomedov a “dagestani rat.”
Of course, all of this was conveniently forgotten after the brawl, pinning all the blame on the champion, rather than considering that maybe allowing their biggest star to hurl racist comments at his leisure for the sake of putting butts in seats was wrong.
This isn’t even the first time McGregor has done this. He has referred to Floyd “Money” Mayweather’s African-American bodyguards as “juiced up monkeys,” or telling Brazilian fighter Jose Aldo he’d turn his home into a “sweatshop for Reebok.”
For years, the UFC has enabled its talent to go as far as it needed to sell tickets and PPV buys, and in doing so has given the talent to do as they please and act out for the purpose of “selling” the event.
A forgotten aspect of all this is how calm and professional Nurmagomedov has been up until the post-fight brawl. One can reasonably call it a breaking point and adrenaline that led to the attack. This doesn’t justify it by any means, but surely makes it more relatable and understandable.
As of writing this, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has suspended both men, have withheld Nurmagomedov’s $2 million purse. However, White has confirmed that he will not be stripping him of the title. McGregor has kept his purse.
This complete lack of real punishment is the cherry on top of the chaos that has ensued. At the end of the day neither fighter was punished severely. Sending the impression that the UFC will continue to allow its fighters to do as they please, as they have been doing.
The Eagle did not disgrace MMA Fighting, and The Notorious didn’t do it alone. The UFC has disgraced MMA Fighting. By creating an environment that allows something like this to happen and enabling toxic people and behavior to thrive and prosper.