These days, the UFC’s stacked with big cards — this June? Oliveira vs. Topuria is shaping up to be the PPV of 2025. But man… it’s hard not to miss the chaos of the Conor McGregor era. Back when every card he touched turned into a global event. And his biggest one? It was the war with Khabib. That fight wasn’t just huge. It was chaotic history.

Say what you want, but UFC 229 wasn’t just a fight — it was the most heated event in UFC history. And from the title alone, you already know who was headlining. Flashback to 2018. Honestly, my memory’s kinda fuzzy. One day, I skipped some classes, was scrolling through Insta, and a headline slapped me in the face: “Conor McGregor Attacks Bus Full of Fighters”. Like… what now?

This guy had just finished a boxing side quest against Mayweather in 2017 — and lost — only to pop back up, wild-eyed, launching a full-on gang ambush in a Barclays Center parking garage. What was that for? Khabib Nurmagomedov.

One fueled by insults, broken friendships, shattered bus windows, and headlines that turned a title fight into a full-blown global spectacle. This wasn’t just about belts anymore. This was personal.

🔥 Pre-Fight Timeline

Let’s rewind and track how we got to this chaos arena:

• Nov 2016: McGregor KOs Eddie Alvarez, becomes UFC Lightweight Champ… and never defends the belt.
• Aug 2017: Conor dips from MMA to chase a boxing bag vs. Floyd Mayweather. Question: Can an MMA fighter hang in boxing? Answer: Nope. Got styled on like a toddler.
• 2016–2017: Khabib keeps grinding — smothers Michael Johnson (SUB), dominates Edson Barboza (U-DEC). Callout and ready for the gold.
• Early April 2018: Khabib confronts Artem Lobov (Conor’s teammate) during UFC 223 fight week. Reason? Lobov disrespected Khabib for calling out Conor.
• Days later: McGregor and his crew pull up like GTA: Online — storm the Barclays Center and throw a dolly at Khabib’s bus. Broken glass, injured fighters (Michael Chiesa), full-blown mayhem. McGregor gets arrested. Pleads guilty. Avoids jail.
• April 7, 2018: McGregor officially stripped of the title. Khabib wins the vacant belt vs. Al Iaquinta at UFC 223.
• Summer 2018: It’s official — McGregor vs. Khabib booked for UFC 229, set for October 6.

The pressers? Insane. Trash talk reached record toxicity levels — religion, politics, Khabib’s family — nothing was off limits. Khabib looked calm… and ready to break that mouth.

🎤 “IT’S TIMEEE” – October 6, 2018 – UFC 229

After all the bad blood, the press conference venom, and that cold face-off with Khabib standing calm like a hitman — the moment had finally come.
October 6, 2018. UFC 229. T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas (aka. main PPV home of UFC).

Spoiler alert? If you haven’t watched it? Here it go, hit YouTube real quick:

Don’t have time to watch? Here’s the result:

Khabib submitted Conor in Round 4 with a savage neck crank.

Look like he wasn’t just trying to win — he wanted to get rid of McGregor’s mouth for once.
Alright, let me turn into data nerd mode and show some numbers:

Round 1

McGregor opened the fight standing tall, landing a few clean shots on Khabib. But that didn’t last long.
Khabib shot for the legs — fast, relentless.

Conor showed some solid defense early, even threatened to take the back for a moment. But the Russian was built like a bear. He dragged McGregor straight to the cage — full Sambo mode. Takedown secured.
That’s when the nightmare began.

Khabib locked in full control, smothering Conor against the fence. His signature cross-leg trap left McGregor stuck and helpless. No space. No scrambles. Just absorbing punches, burning stamina, and getting humbled.
Khabib held top control for 4 min 8 sec — pure grappling dominance. Conor had no answers. Easy 10-9 round for Khabib.

Khabib:

• 7/9 significant strike landed (all but one on the ground)
• 18/21 total strikes
• 1/2 takedown
• 4:08 control time

Conor:

• 6/7 significant strikes (5 defensive strikes on the ground, only 1 at distance)
• 39/40 total strikes (mostly defensive)
• 0 takedown attempt
• 0:00 control time

Round 2

Round 2. Everyone’s expecting more smothering on the mat — classic Khabib. But nope. Conor comes out standing tall, ready to trade.

And BOOM — Khabib fakes the takedown and launches an overhand right straight to the chin. It cracked Conor clean. Crowd lost it. Joe Rogan lost it.

Khabib pressed forward, backed him to the cage. Then came the double-leg — and this time, he lifted Conor and slammed him down like a training dummy. Only took one attempt.
Once again, McGregor was stuck. Flattened. Let Khabib control him for 4 min 22 sec. He tried to create space, tried to shrimp out — but mate, your opponent is a Russian bear with a gas tank built in Dagestan’s mountain.
And here’s the coldest part we almost forgot: while smashing Conor on the ground, Khabib finally started talking — after staying stone silent through all the press conference chaos.

“Let’s talk. Let’s talk now.”

That wasn’t trash talk. That was personal. That was him making a point with fists and fury. The crowd didn’t hear it, but it was straight-up ice.
Khabib kept raining punches and elbows, even dropped a Kimura attempt just to flex. Conor couldn’t breathe, let alone escape. As the round ended, with silence soaking the Octagon, McGregor muttered back:

“It’s only business.”

Yeah… I bet he knew. But it was too late. The trash talk show had gone way too far. And now, Khabib’s business? Was to break him — while the world watched.

Khabib:

• 41/60 significant strikes (36 on the ground, 5 at distance)
• 58/78 total strikes
• 1 successfully takedown
• 4:22 control time

Conor:

• 5/13 significant strikes (3 distance, 1 clinch, 1 ground)
• 7/17 total strikes (mostly defensive)
• 0 takedown attempt
• 0:00 control time

Round 3

This was Conor’s best round — no doubt. He kept the fight standing, out-landed Khabib at distance and in the clinch. Finally, we saw that slick striking edge he’s known for. When the Dagestani bear couldn’t drag him down, Conor looked alive again.
Maybe that “let’s talk” moment messed with Khabib’s head a little? Or maybe he just wanted to prove he could beat Conor at his own game. Either way, it didn’t work out too well for him this round. At least he had a moment where he tried to slap McGregor — classic disrespect.
Khabib went 0 for 3 on takedown attempts, managing only clinch control against the fence — about 1 min 47 sec of it. Not enough to steal the round.
Overall, this was Conor’s round. Clear 10-9 for the Irishman.

Khabib:

• 15/37 significant strikes (14 distance, 1 clinch)
• 17/39 total strikes
• 0/3 takedown (failed to put the fight to the ground 3 times)
• 1:47 control time (clinch control only)

Conor:

• 34/52 significant strikes (25 distance, 9 clinch)
• 44/62 total strikes
• 0 takedown attempt (but defense all the takedown from Khabib)
• 0:00 control time

Round 4

Khabib back to the game.
Conor had maybe the first minute to try and box his way back in — throwing combos, keeping range — but it wasn’t enough. One quick double-leg shot. A slick leg trip. Another takedown. And once again, McGregor was grounded.
For the rest of the fight, it was all Khabib. Nearly 2 minutes of control time, pure ground dominance. Conor tried to stand up. Khabib dragged him right back down like it was nothing. He circled behind, hunting the back. McGregor scrambled, tried to push away — you could almost feel the Nate Diaz
flashbacks. Same nightmare, different opponent.
He tried to bridge out — and that’s when Khabib took his back and locked it in. Got the arm under the chin and cranked.
Conor tapped. Game over.

Khabib:

• 7/13 significant strikes (5 distance, 2 ground)
• 11/19 total strikes
• 1 takedown
• 1:58 control time (before the fight was over)
• Won by submission (neck-crank)

Conor:

• 6/9 significant strikes (all at distance)
• 6/9 total strikes
• 0 takedown
• 0:00 control time

And here’s the whole fight stats:

💥 Post-fight conflict and chaos

The fight was over. Conor tapped. Khabib won. End of story, right?
Not even close.
Only if Khabib had just walked away with the belt, that would’ve been it. But nah — it’s Khabib we’re talking about. Straight-up Russian blood. When he’s mad, you’ll feel it. No filters. No fakes emotion.
So what did he do?
He jumped the cage. Launched himself and threw a flying kick at Dillon Danis — Conor’s training partner. Why? Because Danis had been taunting him from cageside all fight. Honestly, I don’t like Danis either… but this? This lit the fuse.
Security flooded in. Total chaos erupted outside the cage.
Meanwhile, inside the Octagon, things got even messier. Members of Khabib’s team — including his cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov and teammate Zubaira Tukhugov — scaled the cage and rushed at Conor. McGregor swung back. Fists flew. The crowd went wild — for all the wrong reasons.
In the end, Khabib, Conor, Dillon, and both teams were dragged out by security, just like it was a bar brawl, not the biggest UFC event ever.
Bruce Buffer still did his job, announcing the winner, his “and still” voice… but with no fighters left in the cage. Just a ref, a belt, and awkward silence.

The fallout?

• 👎 Khabib Nurmagomedov: 9 months suspension + $500,000 fine.
• 👎 Conor McGregor: 6 months suspension + $50,000 fine.
• 👎 Zubaira & Abubakar: 1 year suspensions + $25,000 fines each.

🧠 Final Though

Great thing, UFC 229 made history — one of the biggest PPVs ever. The heat? Off the charts. But that post-fight meltdown? It left a stain. Made the sport feel… toxic. Like the bad blood and trash talk finally went too far. Which you might ask:

• Where’s the boundary between hype and hate? Between selling fights and losing respect?
• And once it’s crossed the line — can you ever really go back?

Business is business, sure. We hype the fight, throw hands, exchange dance moves inside the cage — then shake it out like nothing happened. But remember this: we’re human. We’ve all got our own values, our own limits, emotion. You run your mouth for business? Great. I’ll run mine for mine. Double the heats. No big deal. But once you cross the line… it’s personal. And there’s no undo button. No reset. Only consequences.

What do you think about the whole drama? Drop your thoughts in the comments — I wanna hear from the fight fans.
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Until next time!

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