In case you missed it there was a huge brawl after lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor on Saturday at UFC 229. Dana White expressed his disgust with it and made it clear that legal action was a reality as well as the potential for a lengthy suspension from the NSAC for Khabib. MMA legend Chuck Liddell chimed in and echoed White’s opinion with this post from Instagram:
Incredible performance by both fighters, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. But to end it like they did was a huge embarrassment to the sport. We (fighters)are sportsmen and champions and we should hold ourselves to a higher standard. We owe it to our fans and the sport itself. I don’t know when things started turning into some kind of sh*t show?!!! Unfortunately, when you allow more and more B.S. during weigh ins and outside of fights; You only slap fighters on the wrist for acting like barbarians and then offer them bigger contracts and reward them for this behavior. There is no penalty for their actions and it condones this type of behavior and consequently our sport loses its sacred respect.
He followed up with another post:
Both sides were in the wrong here! However, this is what you should expect when you start to reward fighters for this kind of behavior and when you use a video of a bus attack to promote a fight. Oh and btw look who threw the first punch inside the ring before “he got jumped unprovoked” This UFC is not what we old timers built with our blood and sweat! It’s unacceptable!”
What do you think? Is Chuck right or was Khabib’s payback justified?