UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is threatening to leave the promotion if they cuts ties with his teammate, featherweight Zubaira Tukhugov. Additionally, Khabib told the UFC they can keep his $2 million UFC 229 payday, which is still being withheld by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Tukhugov, who jumped into the octagon and sucker punched Conor McGregor after the UFC 229 main event, was scheduled to face McGregor's teammate Artem Lobov at UFC Moncton later this month, but Dana White has since cancelled the fight. After the brawl at UFC 229, Dana White told reporters that Tukhugov and Islam Makhachev, two of the three men arrested, “will never fight here.”
Khabib's statement, posted to his social media accounts today, reads:
I would like to address @ufc. Why didn't you fire anyone when their team attacked the bus and injured a couple of people? They could have killed someone there, why no one says anything about insulting my homeland, religion, nation, family?
Why do you have to punish my team, when both teams fought. If you say that I started it, then I do not agree, I finished what he had started.
In any case, punish me, @zubairatukhugovhas nothing to do with that. If you think that I’ll keep silent then you are mistaken. You canceled Zubaira’s fight and you want to dismiss him just because he hit Conor. But don’t forget that it was Conor who had hit my another Brother FIRST, just check the video.
if you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too. We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my Brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise I'll break it myself.
And one more thing, you can keep my money that you are withholding. You are pretty busy with that, I hope it won’t get stuck in your throat. We have defended our honor and this is the most important thing. We intend to go to the end.
#Brothers
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