Things could have gone really bad for Conor McGregor at UFC 229 according to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The two heated rivals met for the lightweight title back in October 2018 in what was and still is the biggest ever pay-per-view event in UFC history.
In the end, it was all Nurmagomedov as he dominated McGregor before submitting him with a neck crank in the fourth round.
And “The Eagle” — who is now retired — reflected on how the fight ended by stating that given the bad blood he had with McGregor, things could have gone very wrong if referee Herb Dean wasn’t there to stop the contest.
“You saw what happened. Remove Herb Dean and you yourself will understand whether I would have gone to the end or not,” Nurmagomedov said (via RT). “A person can die from such a [grip]. If I were to strangle you a little behind the scenes, you would understand what it is about saw what happened. Remove Herb Dean and you yourself will understand whether I would have gone to the end or not.”
“When a person strangles you and has been doing this for 30 years, this is a cold weapon. If there had been no referee, what could have happened?”
Although a bit dark, the same can be said for any blood choke if the referee doesn’t put a halt to things.
That said, it’ll only be a matter of time until McGregor fires back at Nurmagomedov as despite the loss, he has continued to mock and denounce Nurmagomedov and his performance during the win.
In the end, it doesn’t change what happened — Nurmagomedov came out on top against McGregor in the biggest UFC show of all time.
You can watch Nurmagomedov’s response below as well:
