Commission hearings on UFC 229 brawl delayed
Monday was to be the day UFC stars Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov learned the consequences of their post-fight melee at T-Mobile Arena.
Instead, both fighters were granted continuances of their disciplinary hearings by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Nurmagomedov followed McGregor in requesting their cases be removed from the agenda of Monday’s meeting at the Grant Sawyer Building.
Both hearings likely will now be added to the agenda of the commission’s next meeting Jan. 29, though the delay also opens the door for settlement agreements.
Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor in the main event of UFC 229 to retain the lightweight belt Oct. 6 after a nasty buildup that included McGregor being arrested for attacking a bus Nurmagomedov was on in New York.
Immediately after forcing McGregor to tap out in the cage, Nurmagomedov climbed over the cage and attempted to attack McGregor’s friend and training partner Dillon Danis, who he alleges was screaming vitriolic words in his direction about his family and religion.
McGregor also attempted to exit the cage only to be pulled back by commission representatives. He then threw a punch at a member of Nurmagomedov’s team who was trying to climb into the cage and sparked a separate skirmish.
Several people were detained in the aftermath, but no arrests were made. Both fighters, as well as several members of their teams, are under temporary suspensions pending the outcome of the disciplinary hearings.
With Nurmagomedov and McGregor off the Monday agenda, the biggest MMA-related items were the assigning of referees and judges for the Dec. 29 title fights on the UFC 232 card at T-Mobile Arena.
Herb Dean will serve as the referee of the light heavyweight title rematch between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson with Derek Cleary, Sal D’Amato and Junichiro Kamijo picked as judges.
The women’s featherweight title bout between Cris “Cyborg” Justino and bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes will be officiated by Marc Goddard with Dave Hagen, Chris Lee and Mike Bell scoring the fight.
Holloway has work to do
UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway returned from a year out of action to deliver a spectacular performance in handing top contender Brian Ortega the first loss of his career on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 231 in Toronto.
Holloway set records for significant strikes landed in a round and a fight in perhaps the best performances of his 13-fight winning streak and had reporters declaring him the best featherweight in MMA history, particularly since the run has included two wins over Jose Aldo, his only real competition in the debate.
”You’re wrong,” the 27-year-old Hawaiian said at the post-fight news conference. “I still believe the greatest featherweight of all time is Jose Aldo. When I’m 30 or 31, or his age, then you ask me if I’m the greatest featherweight of all time if I’m still here. But, at the end of the day, I just want to be pound-for-pound No. 1.”
Fox deal ends
Las Vegan Kevin Lee will headline the UFC’s final Fox network card Saturday night in Milwaukee with a rematch of a loss to Al Iaquinta in 2014.
Iaquinta handed Lee the first loss of his career in his UFC debut with a unanimous decision win in Newark, New Jersey. Lee is 10-2 since that fight, including a loss to Tony Ferguson last year in an interim lightweight title bout.
Iaquinta had his five-fight winning streak snapped by a loss to Nurmagomedov in April.
A lightweight bout between Edson Barboza and Dan Hooker is also featured on the main card, which airs live at 5 p.m. The preliminary card will air live on Fox Sports 1 at 2 p.m.
The UFC’s television rights move to ESPN in January.
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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHIllLVRJ on Twitter.
