Khabib Nurmagomedov celebrates following his UFC 223 victory. Photo from BBC.co.uk
Dana White: “Khabib Nurmagomedov and UFC worked things out”
After the UFC 229 post-fight melee that involved members of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team, there was word that one of Nurmagomedov’s teammates, Zubaira Tukhugov would be released from the UFC due to his involvement in the brawl. Upon hearing those comments, the lightweight champion threatened to leave the UFC if his teammate was released, telling the promotion that they could “send his broken contract” too.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Boy2zCpn_m_/?hl=en&taken-by=khabib_nurmagomedov
Tukhugov had been scheduled to face Conor McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov at UFC Fight Night 138 on October 27, in Moncton, Canada but was removed from the card after he admitted to jumping inside the Octagon and hitting McGregor following his loss to Nurmagomedov.
Many took the threats made by Nurmagomedov to leave the UFC as very serious, but UFC President Dana White made sure that his undefeated lightweight champion would stay with the promotion. During an interview with TMZ, White said that things were worked out between both parties.
When asked about Khabib’s comments Dana White said the following to TMZ:
“We’re good. That was said a week ago, a lot happens in a week in this business. We’re all good, we worked it out. Obviously he was a little upset and a little fired up, but we’re getting it all worked out. Listen, guys get very emotional and that was a very emotional fight for him, obviously. At the end of the day, Khabib is a great guy and we’ve always had a good relationship with him.”
Dana White would not clarify if Tukhugov would be staying in the UFC saying that he didn’t know what was going to happen and he would see what happens with him. White ended his interview with TMZ by saying Khabib is happy and left it at that.
With his win over Conor McGregor at UFC 229, Nurmagomedov improved his record to 27-0 and had his first successful title defense since becoming lightweight champion at UFC 223. Since the win, Nurmagomedov has gone on to challenge undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather to a fight while McGregor has been said to been pursuing the rematch against Khabib.
You can watch Dana White’s full interview with TMZ about Nurmagomedov’s threat to leave and Conor McGregor below.
http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_fz5agxjo/
