UFC 229: Joe Rogan reveals real extent of Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov mass brawls
What's the story?
On a recent edition of his podcast the Joe Rogan Experience, host and MMA personality Joe Rogan spoke to professional archer John Dudley on a myriad of topics.
Most prominently, Rogan weighed in with his two cents on the mass brawls between fans as well as members from Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor's respective entourages after the conclusion of the Khabib vs. McGregor matchup.
In case you didn't know...
Reigning UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his title at UFC 229 on October 6th against former UFC Featherweight and Lightweight titleholder Conor McGregor.
After dominating McGregor on the ground over the course of Round 1, Nurmagomedov dropped a seemingly exhausted McGregor in Round 2 with a looping overhand right.
Although McGregor dinged Nurmagomedov with several stinging strikes -- including punches to the head, body, and front kicks to the gut -- in Round 3, the latter came back strong in the 4th Round of the matchup.
Eventually, Nurmagomedov dragged McGregor to the mat in the Round 4; taking the latter's back and submitting The Notorious One with a Neck Crank.
The heart of the matter
One ought to note that after submitting Conor McGregor and thereby successfully defending his UFC Lightweight Championship, Khabib Nurmagomedov had to be restrained by referee Herb Dean as the latter continued to trash-talk and advance towards the downed McGregor.
Nurmagomedov then proceeded to throw his mouthpiece in the general direction of McGregor's team, and went on to scale the fence -- following which, in the blink of an eye, The Eagle quite literally soared high, slicing through the Las Vegas air and appeared to have landed a flying kick with both legs on McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis.
What ensued was a mass brawl Octagon-side, as Nurmagomedov and some of his teammates continued to tussle with McGregor's team outside, while a couple of the former's training partners entered the Octagon by scaling the fence and sucker-punched McGregor.
Joe Rogan, who covered the event as the lead color commentator for UFC 229, was Octagon-side throughout and has now taken to his official podcast so as to give his views on the post-fight brawl or rather brawls!
Rogan explained that although the post-fight brawls were wrong and uncalled for, these sort of incidents are not exactly uncommon in the world of combat sports. He added that while brawls at non-combat sports-related social events such as a rock concert, may be way too darker than the brawls which transpire at a combat sports show.
Podcast host and pro archer John Dudley revealed his experience to Rogan, stating--
"It seemed way worse over on your side. But I was more worried when they made us leave. Because the further up you got on the bleachers, and once you got out in the concession area, and the bathrooms; that's where the stuff was going on."
"Just people from the crowd, guys with Irish flags were getting trash-talked then. There was a big brawl."
Furthermore, Rogan elucidated that although any major harm was thankfully averted, there's a price to be paid for all the trash-talk and fight-promotion drama--
"You know there's a price to be paid for all this s**t. All the drama and the trash talking that makes it so fun. It also has the potential for blowing up in your face."
"Also, a couple of people got punched, but it was in an event where a bunch of people got punched!" (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
What's next?
The MMA community presently finds itself in the dark as regards what the future of both Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov holds.
McGregor, on his part, has asserted that he'd love to have a rematch with Nurmagomedov; whereas the latter hasn't really expounded on his future plans.
What's your take on the statements put forth by Joe Rogan and John Dudley on the UFC 229 brawls? Sound off in the comments!