Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov banned and fined for post-fight brawl
Conor McGregor has been banned from competition for six months and fined $50,000 (€43,750) for a post-fight brawl at UFC 229.
At a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing, McGregor and his opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov were suspended for their respective roles in the brawl, with both bans backdated to the October 6 event.
Nurmagomedov received a nine-month ban, to run until July 6, although that could be reduced to six months if the UFC lightweight champion takes part in a local anti-bullying public service announcement.
He was also fined $500,000 (€437,500), ten times the amount of McGregor's fine, which will be paid from his purse from the fight. $1m of Nurmagomedov's $2m disclosed purse has been withheld by the commission since the event.
The remaining $500,000 will now be paid to Nurmagomedov.
McGregor would be eligible to compete from April 6. He earned a disclosed $3m payout from the fight.
The punishments were agreed between the Nevada attorney general's office and the respective parties prior to the hearing.
Commission chairman Anthony Marnell III said of Nurmagomedov's punishment: "The fine is heavy for misconduct but the misconduct was also heavy, unlike anything I've ever seen since I've been here. The time proposed might ride a little light but I still don't have a major issue with it."
After his win by submission, Nurmagomedov threw his gumshield towards McGregor’s corner, scaled the octagon before attempting to attack Dillon Danis, a member of McGregor’s team, in the crowd.
While that was happening, McGregor was involved in a confrontation after a couple of members of Nurmagomedov’s team had entered the cage.
Nurmagomedov's cornermen, Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Zubaira Tukhugov, were both banned for a year, until October 6, and fined $25,000 (€21,900) each.
Khabib Nurmagomedov reacted to the news in an Instagram post. Alongside a picture of himself reclining on a sofa with his eyes closed, the Russian wrote: “Wake me up, when it’s all over.”
A contemporaneous message from the 30-year-old’s official Twitter account read: “Politics forever.”
politics forever
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 29, 2019
- Additional reporting by PA.
