Khabib reflects on the infamous brawl with Conor McGregor after the fight at UFC 229: “I just tried to bite his heart”

Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t want to think too much about the biggest fight of his career in 2024.

The NurmagomedovConor McGregor The rivalry was – and from McGregor’s perspective still is – the most explosive in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA). Unfortunately for “The Notorious,” it was a rough night both in and out of the office.

Nurmagomedov successfully defended his first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title at UFC 229 against McGregor in October 2018. However, the fourth neck crank in the fourth round was only the beginning of the real madness, as a chaotic brawl broke out between the teams as Nurmagomedov attacked the Irishman’s corner.

“It was a very emotional time, but at the same time it was my feeling – I really wanted to bite someone’s heart,” Nurmagomedov said at the Inspire me Podcast (h/t MMA Fighting). “Do you have that feeling in your life? I just tried to bite him in the heart.

“Maybe you can sense that,” he concluded. “I am ‘The Eagle’, and when the eagle is hungry, it’s not good. He has to hunt. That’s why.”

The end of UFC 229 was the end for Nurmagomedov. McGregor has since thrown several verbal jabs at the Russian without receiving a response. While the commission and promotion didn’t like the chaos that ensued, Nurmagomedov knew from the start that it was a possibility.

“When the promoters promote this fight, they have to expect something,” Nurmagomedov said. “If they know me, if they know my whole team, if they know we don’t play. We compete, we don’t play. You can’t play MMA. You can play soccer. You can play American football, you can play hockey. But you can’t play MMA. You have to fight. This is a fighting game.”

“A lot of people said it was very strange or weird or something like that, but it was my decision,” he concluded.