Khabib Nurmagomedov faced Conor McGregor in Las Vegas on Saturday (October 6), with judges’ scorecards since confirming Nurmagomedov won the second round convincingly.
Nurmagomedov defeated the Irishman to retain the UFC Lightweight title after four rounds, but there was confusion for some viewers as to who won the second round of the fight.
The Russian caught McGregor with a strong fist early in the second round, but by the end, some fans believed the Notorious had fought his way back.
Summing up the fight, one person wrote on Twitter:
Well, first round was draw. 2nd-Conor. 3rd went Khabib. I guess you consider 4th khabib since he stopped. [sic]
The fight came to an end in the fourth round when McGregor was forced to tap out.
Following the fight, the judges’ scorecards were shared on Twitter, showing Nurmagomedov having convincingly won the second round:
Despite his success, Nurmagomedov wasn’t done with fighting. After defeating McGregor, he leapt out of the Octagon to begin brawling with members of McGregor’s corner.
The Russians’ own entourage then entered the Octagon and began throwing punches at McGregor.
At the post-fight press conference, Nurmagomedov explained why he’d attacked McGregor’s team, saying the Irishman had made provocative comments about his ‘religion, country and father’.
According to the Independent, Nurmagomedov said:
I want to say sorry to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. This is not my best side.
He talked about my religion, my country, my father. He came to Brooklyn, he broke my bus and nearly killed two people. So why do people still talk about me jumping over the cage? I have shown respect.
I told you guys: his whole team and him, they are tap machines. Today he tapped. Undisputed and undefeated.
He continued:
This is a respectful sport. This is not a trash-talking sport. I want to change this game. You cannot talk about religions and nations. This for me is very important.
Thank you for waiting for me. I know my father is gonna smash me when I go home. Nevada: sorry. Vegas: sorry. He took a picture with Putin. But Putin just called me and told me he is proud of me. And he said congratulations.
McGregor took to Twitter after the fight to congratulate his component on the win.
He wrote:
Good knock. Looking forward to the rematch.
A rematch would certainly make for another entertaining fight!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.