LAS VEGAS -- With the location intact, Khabib Nurmagomedov attempted to settle his grudge war with Conor McGregor at UFC 229 on Saturday and did everything he said he would in the lead-up. Nurmagomedov (27-0) relied on his superior grappling skills to maul the former champion on the ground and defend his UFC lightweight title via fourth-round submission at T-Mobile Arena in the biggest fight in UFC history.
That's when all hell broke loose.
Chaos ensued inside the Octagon immediately after McGregor tapped out via rear-naked choke in Round 4 as members of both teams began to fight with Khabib's team appearing to start the insanity. The melee quickly spilled out into the ringside area as police restrained a number of fans who jumped the barricade. Nurmagomedov got into a shouting match with UFC president Dana White during the altercation inside the cage. After order was relatively restored and McGregor was escorted to the locker room, UFC chose to skip Nurmagomedov's traditional post-fight interview in order to play it safe.
"If I put this belt on you, everybody's going to start throwing shit into the Octagon," White told Nurmagomedov.
The post-fight scene was one of the ugliest in UFC's history and began when Nurmagomedov stood over and taunted a fallen McGregor after the fight was stopped. Once referee Herb Dean restrained him, Nurmagomedov ran over to McGregor's corner have words and eventually climbed over the cage wall to escalate the situation and seemingly attack a member of McGregor's team.
At the same time, McGregor was attacked by members of Nurmagomedov's team inside the cage, along with an unidentified person who leaped the Octagon wall to hit the Irish star with punches. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, fought off punches outside the cage by McGregor teammate Dillon Danis, who recently made his pro debut with Bellator MMA.
The dislike between the two camps escalated on April 5, just two days after Nurmagomedov slapped McGregor teammate Artem Lobov for comments he made about the Russian fighter on social media. McGregor, who ended a nearly two-year layoff on Saturday, showed up unannounced at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, New York, and attacked a bus filled with UFC fighters including Nurmagomedov.
McGregor, who tossed a hand truck through the window and injured three people, avoided jail time by pleading guilty to felony assault charges and accepted a plea deal. The hostility between the fighter's camps and the respective fans of their home countries helped build their title bout into an event that White expects to possibly double UFC's pay-per-view record of 1.65 million buys from McGregor's rematch with Nate Diaz in 2016.
It remains unknown whether the post-fight attack on McGregor and his team was a calculated and direct response to the bus attack at the Barclays Center. Either way, it marred what had been an intense and dramatic title bout featuring current and former champions, and two fighters with contrasting styles.
Check out a quick recap of the match below along with full commentary and highlights at the bottom of the post. CBS Sports will update this breaking news story shortly.
Round 1: McGregor and Khabib immediately went to the mat with Khabib soon pushing McGregor into the cage for a takedown while locking his legs together. McGregor avoided damage and got a couple head shots in but never had control as Khabib eventually put the challenger on his back for the final 90 seconds of the round. McGregor did a good job holding his own while Khabib pulled his energy. Winner: Nurmagomedov, 10-9
Round 2: Khabib hit McGregor with a huge right a few seconds into the round, stumbling the challenger back, but McGregor immediately responded with a running knee. Khabib then took McGregor down again up against the cage with four minutes left in the round. The champion controlled McGregor from there with a number of big swinging rights hitting the prone challenger. Holding McGregor's legs, Khabib began to tee off with some ground strikes on McGregor, driving him into the face as McGregor is unable to move despite covering up. At this point, UFC's significant strikes count stood at 59-3 for the champion. An attempted kimura lock failed for Khabib, and McGregor soon got to his feet while still trapped against the cage. McGregor barely showed any offense in the round. Winner: Nurmagomedov, 10-8 (20-17 Khabib)
Round 3: McGregor connected with some tentative strikes to start, looking a bit fatigued, though Khabib does a bit too considering the energy expended on the ground game. Khabib attempted another takedown but McGregor thwarted it and continued landing blows, including an uppercut that stunned Khabib and a number of other strikes that wounded the champion. Khabib attempted another takedown with 90 seconds left but it only worked briefly as McGregor immediately rose to his feet. McGregor dominated Khabib through stand-up striking for the vast majority of the round. Winner: McGregor 10-9 (29-27 Khabib)
Round 4: Once again, McGregor started striking Khabib, who did not take as long to attempt a takedown and succeeded. Khabib soon locked McGregor's head, cut off his breathing with a rear-naked choke and forced a tap out. Khabib immediately screamed in McGregor's face, jumped out of the Octagon and attacked someone in the crowd. One of Khabib's teammates punched McGregor in the Octagon after the fight, and he swung back. UFC immediately cut to a wide shot of the arena. Winner: Nurmagomedov via submission
CBS Sports will update this breaking news story shortly.
UFC 229 fight card, recap
Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) vs. Conor McGregor -- lightweight title
Tony Ferguson def. Anthony Pettis via second-round TKO (stoppage, broken hand)
Dominick Reyes def. Ovince Saint Preux via unanimous decision (30-27, x 3)
Derrick Lewis def. Alexander Volkov via third-round TKO
Michelle Waterson def. Felice Herrig via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 30-27)
Jussier Formiga def. Sergio Pettis via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28)
Vincente Luque def. Jalin Turner via first-round TKO (punches)
Aspen Ladd def. Tonya Evinger via first-round TKO (punches)
Scott Holtzman def. Alan Patrick via third-round TKO (elbows)
UFC 229 live results
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