Conor McGregor to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES — UFC star Conor McGregor was arrested and prosecuted in New York for trying to attack lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov on a bus in April.

Six months later, he’ll make a lot of money to get his hands on his bitter rival.

McGregor will challenge Nurmagomedov for the belt in the main event of UFC 229 on Oct. 6 at T-Mobile Arena, the organization announced at a news conference Friday at Orpheum Theater.

Neither McGregor nor Nurmagomedov was in attendance.

The incident in New York occurred when McGregor arrived at a Barclays Center media event hoping to confront Nurmagomedov about a run-in with McGregor’s teammate in a hotel lobby two days earlier. But the function had ended, and all the fighters had boarded buses to head back to their hotel.

McGregor and his entourage began throwing objects at the windows, including a bike rack and a hand truck, hoping to coax Nurmagomedov out of the vehicle, even though he was being restrained by security.

Several fighters suffered injuries as a result of broken glass and had to be removed from the card two days later. McGregor fled the scene but was arrested the following morning.

At the time, UFC president Dana White called it “the most disgusting thing that has ever happened in the history of the company.”

But that sentiment didn’t stop the organization from using footage of the incident in a promotional video that was played after a Friday news conference during which White built the anticipation by saying the fight was not yet a done deal.

Nurmagomedov won the lightweight title two days after the incident at Barclays Center, defeating Al Iaquinta by unanimous decision.

McGregor’s only fights this year have been in a courtroom. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge last month for the incident in New York and avoided jail time, clearing the way for his return.

This will be McGregor’s first MMA bout since he won the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez in November 2016. His only competitive action since then was a loss to Floyd Mayweather in his professional boxing debut in August 2017.

Nurmagomedov is 26-0 as a pro, including 10-0 in the UFC. The Westgate sports book opened him as a minus 180 favorite minutes after the fight was announced.

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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.