Banned UFC Fighter Boasts About Assaulting Conor McGregor
The lasting consequences of the all-out brawl following the UFC 229 main event are still in motion. It won’t help things that a fighter involved is boasting about assaulting Conor McGregor.
Suspended UFC featherweight Zubaira Tukhugov, one of Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s teammates who allegedly stormed the Octagon and assaulted McGregor at UFC 229, is happy with his actions.
Tukhugov took to social media this weekend to boast about how he had ‘slapped McGregor as promised’ (via Karim Zidan):
“I slapped him as promised,” said Tukhugov. “I promised to make him answer for his words and I did.”
UFC fighter Zubaira Tukhugov is bragging on social media about attacking Conor McGregor at #UFC229: “I slapped him as promised. I promised to make him answer for his words and I did." pic.twitter.com/Iy2QYlUmEt
— Karim Zidan 🪶 (@ZidanSports) October 7, 2018
The rivalry between McGregor and Nurmagomedov’s teams obviously runs deep. It had been brewing for years. But it was taken to a new level when McGregor and members of his clan were arrested for their now-infamous Brooklyn bus assault last April. McGregor took several shots at Khabib’s family and country in the lead-up to UFC 229. That only heightened the bad blood.
But Tukhugov has never really even been mentioned. This is probably the most press he’s ever gotten and ever will get. It’s for a disgusting reason as well.
Tukhugov’s In Trouble
As for Tukhugov, he was supposedly one of the men arrested for the brawl. Those charges disappeared when McGregor refused to pursue them, however. Still, White wouldn’t let them off the hook. He claimed all of Khabib’s teammates who assaulted McGregor were done fighting for the UFC:
“Of course, of course. The guys who jumped in will never fight here. They’ll never fight here. Listen, I’ve been working hard for 18 years to build this sport.”
Tukhugov has been out of action since May 2016. He has been serving a USADA suspension for testing positive for banned substance ostarine. Coupled with White’s words, that’s a lot of bans to go around.
The Dagestani competitor is scheduled to face McGregor’s good friend and longtime teammate Artem Lobov at October 27’s UFC Moncton. The fight is still listed on the UFC’s schedule as of now.
McGregor seems to think his side ‘won the battle’ at UFC 229, and this beef is far from over. It could legitimately go down as one of the most heated rivalries in UFC history.
Tukhugov appears proud that he broke the law and snuck up on McGregor at UFC 229, but he may have paid for it with his job.
