‘Felt empty’ – Why Khabib Nurmagomedov was joyless after choking out Conor McGregor?
Khabib Nurmagomedov submitting Conor McGregor (Image Courtesy - Forbes)
One might think Khabib Nurmagomedov had the most-satisfying victory against his nemesis, Conor McGregor, at UFC 229 by tapping him out. But the Eagle was more dejected than content after submitting his biggest rival.
In a podcast with Mike Tyson, Khabib Nuragomedov revealed on the show, the real reason behind his emotions getting the better of him after he won the fight against Conor McGregor. The Russian after defeating the Irishman went on to jump into the crowd and attack McGregor’s teammates. Though he does not defend his actions, Nurmagomedov gave an explanation as to why he acted out of character at that moment.
The lead-up to Nurmagomedov vs McGregor at UFC 229 was undoubtedly one of the most-tensed buildups to a fight. “When I catch his neck and choke him – he tapped, you know. I think: Hey, you bring like 1000 people from Ireland to a different part of the world and you tap in front of them?” said Nurmagomedov on the podcast.
The Dagestani expected to Conor McGregor to back his “warrior” talk during the fight and was prepared to go to war against the Irishman. Seeing that his rival tapped out after he choked him surprised Nurmagomedov. According to the former lightweight champion, he still felt empty after the win. The fighter then goes on to say he wanted more violence to fill the void which led to the brawl eventually.
This is why Khabib is the king of MMA pic.twitter.com/vBm8LYlIWD
— igor🇺🇦 (@ukraniandream) December 21, 2022
Nurmagomedov expected McGregor to go “sleep” and not tap. Dillon Danis, the teammate of McGregor, spewing insults toward Nurmagomedov after the fight was the kind of fuel the Dagestani was looking for. This triggered Khabib to jump out of the cage and cause havoc.
Joe Rogan believes Conor McGregor paid the price for talking smack to Khabib Nurmagomedov
UFC commentator Joe Rogan was part of the broadcast crew for the biggest PPV event in UFC history. While Rogan was stunned by Nurmagomedov’s performance in the octagon against Conor McGregor, he was also taken aback by the post-fight brawl. Many might condemn Nurmagomedov and his team for the violence but Rogan believes that was just retaliation.
In the lead up to the fight, the infamous McGregor dolly incident took place, the Irishman was spewing the most vile insults towards the fighter, and also attacked Khabib’s religion, and nationality. Rogan believes this was the main aggressor in the post-fight brawl. In the JRE MMA Show #45, Rogan talked to his guests about how McGregor’s insults went too far leading to Nurmagomedov’s violence.
Joe believes that was very uncharacteristic of the former champion to express violence in such manner. Until UFC 229, Nurmagomedov was nothing but respectful to his opponents and mostly shook hands before and after the fight. But McGregor’s choice to wage mind games backfired. Conor McGregor paid the price, Rogan believes.
Also read: Logan Paul brutally trolled by Conor McGregor fans for boasting performance against Floyd Mayweather
Prateek Athanur
(2943 Articles Published)