Conor McGregor and the UFC are to BLAME for Las Vegas post-fight brawl, insists Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz
Abdelaziz says McGregor's pre-fight press conference remarks, as well as the UFC's promotion of the fight, were the main reasons why the brawl took place
CONOR MCGREGOR and the UFC are to blame for the post-fight UFC 229 brawl - that's the verdict of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager.
McGregor was defeated by the unbeaten Khabib via a brutal fourth-round KO in Las Vegas over the weekend.
While Khabib retained the UFC lightweight title, his £1.5m fight purse has been held back by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for his part in the mass fracas after Sunday's fight.
Khabib jumped was caught on camera jumping the fence of the octagon - before attacking McGregor's training partner Dillon Danis.
However, Abdelaziz has jumped to the defence of his client - who says McGregor's comments in the build up to the fight were a contributory factor in why the violence occurred.
He explained: “You can’t bite a dog and not expect to be bitten.
“You can’t play with fire and not expect to be burned.
"This man, Conor McGregor, is not a good guy.
“I've got zero respect for Conor McGregor.
“His team, his whole entourage, zero.
“These guys, they demand respect, but you earn respect.
“How are you going to earn respect when you talk crazy about people’s family, religion, countries?”
The UFC chose to promote the event using the footage from the bus attack at UFC 223 that saw McGregor throw a dolly smashing the official UFC bus windows and injuring many fighters.
The attack led to McGregor being arrested, with the Irishman subsequently a handed community service order as well as a compulsory notice to attend an anger management course.
Abdelaziz added: “Let’s be real - the UFC promoted this fight with the videos.
“They didn’t promote this as going to a golf tournament. They promoted this as a fight.”
