Everything is all right with Khabib Nurmagomedov, and The Eagle ain't going nowhere, UFC president Dana White declared.
After a public threat to leave UFC in the aftermath of the post-fight brawl involving Conor McGregor and his team at UFC 229, Khabib Nurmagomedov has straightened out things with the company, according to White.
"We're good with Khabib," White said in a chance interview with TMZ, insisting that the fighter will stay on the UFC stable when all the issues have been sorted out.
He scoffed at the question, saying that there had been a whirlwind of developments from the moment Nurmagomedov posted this threat on his Instagram account last week and now. "That was a week ago. A lot happens in a week in this business."
He insisted that Nurmagomedov's remarks had been issued in the heat of the moment, and what prevailed over the fighter was the professional relationship between them.
White pointed out that fighters passionate about the sport such as Nurmagomedov can tend to be emotional about the outcome of the bout. In this case, the UFC president recognized that the recent bout was "a very emotional fight" for Nurmagomedov.
What prevailed over The Eagle was what White described as a "great relationship" between UFC and the fighter. White described Nurmagomedov as a "great guy."
In his Instagram post, Nurmagomedov threatened to leave UFC if White fired his teammate, Zubaira Tukhugov, for his involvement in the post-fight fracas that broke out minutes after prevailing over McGregor in their highly-anticipated face-off at UFC 229.
While security personnel tried to separate Nurmagomedov and members of McGregor's team outside the ring, Tukhugov rushed to the octagon, climbed the railing, and sucker-punched McGregor. White warned that Tukhugov might be sanctioned for his involvement in the melee.
The Ukrainian fighter wrote on his Instagram account a threat to leave the UFC in the event his teammate and compatriot Tukhugov got sacked by the promotion.
White kept mum though on Nurmagomedov's prospective fight, particularly the looming rematch against McGregor, who earlier sought for another shot at The Eagle.
"The fight just ended, and we're still dealing with commission issues," said White, explaining that he was currently preoccupied with setting up other matches.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), which sanctioned the bout, is expected to come down hard on Nurmagomedov, his team, and McGregor for the ugly ending in an otherwise tense bout between the fighters who had bad blood between them.
The commission is anticipated to come down hard on Nurmagomedov and his team, as well as McGregor, for the nasty brawl the broke out after the fight. The commission put on hold Nurmagomedov's US$2 million fight purse, and briefly held in custody Tukhugov and two unidentified team members.
