UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov took to Instagram on Thursday and threatened to quit the UFC over its handling of the fallout from the Conor McGregor fight and ensuing brawl. The UFC could fire Nurmagomedov's teammate, Zubaira Tukhugov, for his role in the altercation.
Here's the long message, which he posted twice in both Russian and English:
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
Tukhugov, a Chechnyan UFC featherweight, is a part of Nurmagomedov's team, and he was scheduled to fight McGregor's teammate, Artem Lobov, at the end of October before he was suspended for his role in the brawl. UFC's suspension stems from his actions after Nurmagomedov leapfrogged the wall of the Octagon to go after the McGregor teammate who was spewing racist vitriol all night. Tukhugov was the teammate who jumped in the Octagon and appeared to slap at a woozy McGregor from behind. He's the one in red here:
The day after the fight, Tukhugov took to his IG page to admit he "slapped him like I promised," according to BloodyElbow. “I promised to make him answer for his words and I did.”
"There are a lot of things here," Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Anthony Marnell said after the brawl. "There are a lot of charges that can be brought against a spectator who came over the barricade, through the commission section and into the Octagon to strike a fighter three times. For the record, I have a massive problem with that. That cannot happen.
"We're taking a really hard look at that gentleman. We know exactly who he is and where he is. I have to let the attorney general determine—is that trespassing, disturbing the peace? That was a serious action and it deserves a serious consequence."
Nurmagomedov also told the UFC in his IG post to "keep my money that you are withholding." He's referring to his $2 million purse the NSAC hasn't released yet, pending further investigation. Unlike Khabib, McGregor received his $3 million purse, even though the NSAC is also investigating him and his team.
