Rizvan Magomedov - The Man guilty of UFC 229 Brawl finally revealed?
Who is Rizvan Magomedov?
Rizvan Magomedov is the President of Dominance MMA, a New York-based MMA Management Agency in the business popular for representing top Dagestani fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Zabit Magomedsharipov.
Rizvan is the right-hand man of Khabib's manager Ali Abdelaziz, who is also the founder of Dominance MMA. Rizvan acts as the pipeline for Ali into the Dagestani fighters. Rizvan was arrested and later released for swinging on Dillon Danis after Khabib jumped into the crowd during the UFC 229 brawl.
What happened at UFC 229?
Khabib Nurmagomedov put in an amazing performance at UFC 229. He completely dominated Conor McGregor on the ground, and on the feet. Khabib got a takedown in the fourth round and worked his way to the back of McGregor. A super-tight RNC (rear naked choke) was applied that forced a tap from McGregor.Â
Unfortunately, the controversial events that followed Khabib's triumph eclipsed this remarkable performance. Khabib jumped the cage after submitting McGregor and attacked his teammate Dillon Danis.
This started a massive brawl in the arena, following which McGregor, who was recovering from the Khabib's mauling got sucker punched by members of Khabib's gang which included PFL fighter Abubakar Nurmagomedov (Khabib's cousin) and Zubaira Tukhugov (UFC Featherweight who was scheduled to fight Artem later this month).
The "Dagestani Legend" leapt over the cage into the crowd to attack McGregor’s jiu-jitsu coach and Top Bellator prospect, Dillon Danis, who was seated at the side of the cage. The duo had an exchange of words soon after Khabib submitted McGregor and moved towards the ringside.
This was believed to be the cause of action for Khabib until the new footage of the brawl emerged proving Rizvan Magomedov's involvement in triggering Khabib to attack Danis. All three individuals from Khabib's team who were arrested for causing the brawl were released after the Irishman refused to press charges on them.
How did Rizvan Magomedov trigger the UFC 229 Brawl?
The Brawl got initiated in two places, By Khabib outside the cage. And by McGregor, inside the cage, when he tried to stop Abubakar Nurmagomedov from jumping out of the cage and attacking Dillon Danis and the other cornermen.
But the general consensus till now was that Dillon had provoked Khabib by talking trash triggering Khabib to scale the octagon and attack Dillon.
However, the above footage of the UFC 229 brawl has emerged now proving Dillon's innocence in this incident. It shows Dominance MMA's Rizvan Magomedov taunting Dillon moments after Conor McGregor submitted. Dillon pushes him away, an act Khabib saw and prompted him to scale the cage and confront Dillon.
Here, Rizvan Magomedov is seen being pulled away after hitting Dillon Danis when the camera comes back up. It can be seen that the police in the brown is pushing him back towards the right of the video after he hit Dillon.
These video evidence clearly proves Rizvan Magomedov's involvement in triggering Khabib to scale the octagon and confront Dillon Danis, thereby starting one of the biggest brawls in sports history. Rizvan Magomedov is the MVP here and has equal involvement as Khabib and McGregor in aggravating the situation to this level.
Does Rizvan Magomedov have any criminal record?
According to the investigative journalist, Mike Russel of 'Real fight Stories', Rizvan Magomedov is also being investigated in an alleged battery incident in Chicago at PFL 2 involving him and his Dominance partner Ali Abdelaziz. They barged into a manager's hotel room at PFL 2 and roughed him up before stealing a contracted fighter a week later.
What next for Rizvan Magomedov?
Rizvan was arrested for assaulting Dillon during the brawl but was released after 'Team McGregor' refused to press charges. But the investigations regarding the UFC 229 brawl is still going on, and this newly emerged video clearly shows his role in triggering the fight. A foreign national doing such acts in American soil can be a ground for permanent visa ban to the nation. if found guilty he will be out of options to enter the USA for a very long time.