The world watched two great personalities fight it out in the ring last Sunday: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. But this wasn’t a normal contest. They’d had problems even before the fight was announced. There was the incident with the bus, and all those other conflicts that had us all glued to the press conferences like hawks. We followed every interview, every tweet and every post.
Yet when it came to it, the thing that shocked everyone was not Conor’s submission in the fourth round – some of us actually thought that would happen – but what happened after. Khabib left the octagon and started attacking Conor’s trainer, while Khabib’s team jumped into the cage and started fighting.
Khabib said this was because Conor insulted his father and his religion: Islam. His punishment was to not be presented with the belt on the night, which leaves us with two questions: was that the right punishment; and were Khabib’s actions justified?
Being Muslim myself and being also a big fan of Conor McGregor, I was really conflicted. I like the entertainment that Conor brings to the ring. He has made UFC popular, and has brought the fans in. I’ve watched the interviews, and cannot deny that the man has the “it” factor. Even if you hate him you will still watch him. However, I felt that this time Conor McGregor crossed some lines by bringing religion into his fight with Khabib. I found some of the things he said insulting, and the fact that he brought whiskey into a press conference to taunt Khabib was childish. Conor forgot his dignity, and allowed himself to spew the nonsense that he said on that occasion out of sheer desperation – because in fact he had nothing on Khabib.
During the press conference I developed a respect for Khabib that I hadn’t had before. The way he responded – his patience and his charisma – impressed me. So did that respect disappear after what happened post-fight? Well a little. I mean I didn’t like the violence. But Conor insulted his father! Do that and you cannot predict what extremes someone will go to. Do I think what Khabib did was right? No. Do I think he had a good reason? Yes.
Let’s move on to the punishment now. Conor McGregor has crossed many lines: attacking Khabib’s coach; insulting his religion; and insulting his family. But what punishment did he get? The attacks might not have been physical, but he still deserved some kind of penalty. Khabib was penalised straight away, but McGregor doesn’t seem to be in any kind of trouble.
Is the UFC fair? No. Then again Conor McGregor is one of the biggest names in UFC, and in some ways has made it what it is. But I think it’s that fact that is now going to his head.
The fight was a great one and the right fighter won. But Khabib should have settled scores outside of the ring or risen above it all, because that would have earned him more respect and protected his reputation. And for his part Conor needs to learn the difference between insulting one man, and an entire religion. He shouldn’t have brought Islam into the game.
Both men have lost some of my respect, but they fought well and gave great entertainment, which is what we all wanted right? Hopefully if there is a rematch they can both act like better men.
