Khabib Nurmagomedov Threatens to Leave the UFC in Support of Teammate
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov on Thursday issued a statement addressing the UFC, threatening to break his contract and forfeit the $2 million paycheck that is being withheld.
Nurmagomedov and his team have been in a longstanding feud with Conor McGregor and his team, which includes McGregor's infamous attack on a bus that held Nurmagomedov at the UFC 223 Media Day. That feud boiled over after Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor at UFC 229 on Saturday. The Dagestani fighter leapt over the Octagon fence after the fight to attack McGregor cornerman Dillon Danis.
With that, a large melee ensued with McGregor trying to scale the fence as well and exchanging blows with members of Nurmagomedov's team. During the mayhem Zubaira Tukhugov climbed into the cage and struck McGregor from behind.
After order was restored, UFC president Dana White said that the fighters that went into the Octagon would never fight for the UFC again. Apparently, he has begun to follow through on that comment, as Nurmagomedov issued a statement on Thursday threatening to break his UFC contract, mentioning that the UFC canceled Tukhugov's upcoming bout with Artem Lobov.
"You canceled Zubaira’s fight and you want to dismiss him just because he hit Conor. But don’t forget that it was Conor who had hit my another Brother FIRST, just check the video," Nurmagomedov wrote.
"If you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too. We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my Brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise I'll break it myself.
"And one more thing, you can keep my money that you are withholding. You are pretty busy with that, I hope it won’t get stuck in your throat. We have defended our honor and this is the most important thing. We intend to go to the end."
It is actually the Nevada State Athletic Commission, not the UFC, that withheld Nurmagomedov's $2 million paycheck on Saturday. The commission is investigating the post-fight incident and determining what sanctions should be issued.
UFC officials on Thursday did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Nurmagomedov's threat to break his contract.
Khabib Nurmagomedov's Full Statement Threatening to Quit:
I would like to address @ufc
Why didn't you fire anyone when their team attacked the bus and injured a couple of people? They could have killed someone there, why no one says anything about insulting my homeland, religion, nation, family?
Why do you have to punish my team, when both teams fought. If you say that I started it, then I do not agree, I finished what he had started.
In any case, punish me, @zubairatukhugov has nothing to do with that.
If you think that I’ll keep silent then you are mistaken. You canceled Zubaira’s fight and you want to dismiss him just because he hit Conor. But don’t forget that it was Conor who had hit my another Brother FIRST, just check the video.
if you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too. We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my Brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise I'll break it myself.
And one more thing, you can keep my money that you are withholding. You are pretty busy with that, I hope it won’t get stuck in your throat. We have defended our honor and this is the most important thing. We intend to go to the end.
#Brothers
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