Conor McGregor reacts to UFC loss – but did he throw first punch before being attacked by members of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team following fight defeat?
CONOR McGregor has broken his silence after losing to Russia’s Khabib Nurmagomedov’s last night in a fight that ended in chaos.
The Irishman was attacked by two of his opponent’s team following his UFC defeat but new footage shows Conor may well have thrown the first punch.
At first glance, it seemed the defeated star was attacked by Zubaira Tukhugov and another member of Khabib’s team following his fourth-round loss.
Two of the Khabib team headed for McGregor and landed heavy punches to his head, knocking him back.
As security stepped in to protect the defeated star, another man went for him.
But footage now appears to show Notorious kicking it all off with a swift punch as the melee first got going.
McGregor has since taken to Twitter to suggest a rematch will be on the cards, calling the scrap a “good knock”.
The Irish star wrote: “Good knock. Looking forward to the rematch.”
He added on Instagram: “I’ll be back.”
Nurmagomedov beat the 30-year-old Irishman by submission in the fourth round before jumping out of the octagon and unleashing a vicious attack on McGregor’s team-mate Dillon Danis.
The chaos ensued in the front rows of the crowd as a number of people attended the UFC 229 at the octagon in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
McGregor’s pregnant partner Dee Devlin is also said to have fled the arena during the ugly scenes.
The attackers have been revealed and banned from UFC but he has decided he will NOT press charges.
Tukhugov has been banned from UFC following the brawl.
McGregor was then surrounded by more security members to ensure he would not be attacked again.
UFC president Dana White and many other piled into the octagon to try and restore some order.
White was left fuming and refused to hand the champion his belt.
Khabib had produced a fantastic performance to beat McGregor, who tapped out in the fourth round of their UFC 229 showdown.
Though he landed some heavy blows on McGregor in the second round, McGregor did manage to trade some punches with his Russian opponent in the following round.
The UFC superstar revealed Russian president Vladimir Putin congratulated him in a phone call after beating McGregor.
It was a deserved win but Nurmagomedov was not satisfied.
After shouting angrily at the floored McGregor, he proceeded to jump over the cage and head for Danis.
Three of the Russian’s team have been arrested and taken to jail following the hideous scenes.
White said: “Three of Khabib’s guys have been arrested and are on the way to jail now.
“I know if we put the belt on him (Khabib) in the octagon they’ll be things thrown. I just said let’s just try and get him out of here.
“Both men made it clear that the rivalry would not be over after the fight, but I definitely didn’t see Khabib jumping over the fence after the fight.
“Daniel Cormier and Luke Rockhold were great in diffusing things.”
Following the fight former MMA star Michael Bisping said that Khabib could be stripped of his belt, face criminal charges and potentially have his visa revoked for his actions.