By: Dylan Edelman After two years without an MMA fight, former Featherweight and Lightweight champion Conor McGregor (21-4) returned to the Octagon in Las Vegas on October 6 to face the current UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (27-0). Hyped for months, the UFC 229 main card matchup headlined the biggest star in the sport's history against one of its most commanding fighters. Drama and bad blood between the fighters began back in April when Nurmagomedov slapped Artem Lobov (McGregor’s teammate) for comments he made on social media about the Russian fighter. Unannounced and irate, McGregor showed up at UFC 223 in Brooklyn— just days later— and propelled a chair through the window of a bus filled with UFC fighters, including Nurmagomedov. The incident ended up injuring three people and McGregor pled guilty to felony assault charges. Since then, the hostility stewed between the fighter's camps and fans, helping build this title bout into the biggest fight in MMA history.
Round 1 saw McGregor advancing early and stopping a takedown, but Nurmagomedov was successful on his follow-up attempt one minute in. While the Russian fighter spent most of the opening round grappling for position as McGregor was seated, Khabib eventually worked him to the floor and landed a huge right to end the round. 10-9 Nurmagomedov. In the second round, McGregor was back on the advance with a front kick to the body, but suddenly Nurmagomedov uncorked a brutal counter right that dropped McGregor for a brief moment. After standing, McGregor landed a knee to the face, however, it wasn’t much time before Nurmagomedov secured another takedown. Nurmagomedov dominated the round with punches and elbows, thrashing McGregor for the remainder of the round. 10-8 Nurmagomedov. The next round began with multiple jabs from McGregor and a low kick from Nurmagomedov. Two minutes in, McGregor ended with a knee and landed a solid uppercut. Outboxing Nurmagomedov, McGregor stuffed two of three takedown attempts. Round 3 went to McGregor 10-9. McGregor was out of steam by the fourth round and gave up an early takedown. Nurmagomedov quickly applied a rear-naked choke from behind and forced the tap at 3:03. All three judges had Nurmagomedov leading 29-27 at the time of the stoppage. Nurmagomedov retained his lightweight title via a fourth-round submission, but that was just the start. Then, things went crazy when Nurmagomedov leaped over the cage to attack one of McGregor's cornermen. Some teammates of Nurmagomedov then entered the cage to attack McGregor. Chaos ensued— inside and outside the Octagon— and both fighters were escorted from the arena by security. The post-fight scene was one of the ugliest in UFC history.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Dylan EdelmanWilson Senior Archives
February 2020
Categories
All
|