UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor made himself the center of controversy again when he hopped the cage after teammate Charlie Ward’s win at Bellator 187.
Khabib Nurmagomedov believes that the UFC should do something to humble their lightweight champion.
“Yes, it’s okay, but not all the time. He does this all the time. In Ultimate Fighter show, in Bellator show, I don’t understand why he can do but other guys cannot do. Because he’s Conor McGregor? He cannot do this. The UFC has to make him humble a little bit because other guys say, ‘Oh, Conor do this? He can do this but why I not?’ This is why sometimes you have to follow rules when you’re a big name, because a lot of people are watching you. When you jump inside the ring, okay, but when you try to fight with referee, this is not good,” Nurmagomedov said on Talk & Talker.
McGregor has apologized for his actions, but has never received any kind of punishment for what he did.
Nurmagomedov has cornered fighters and watched them compete before from the crowd, but he claims he never did what McGregor did.
“My very good friend fought for a big organization in Europe at 57 kgs, 125 [pounds]. When he win, I do same s**t. I come inside and I hold him because I’m very happy. I’m jumping on the cage, I come inside. A lot of people come inside, my friends, my teammates, because we’re very happy but when referee tells me, ‘Hey, you guys have to go out,’ I don’t try to fight with him because I know referee is not professional fighter, he’s referee. I have to respect rules. But I go crazy a little bit after I understand, ‘Hey, this is not good. I have to stop this,’ and I try to tell my friends, my teammates that we have to go out,” says Nurmagomedov.
UFC 219 takes place on Saturday, December 30 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with no main event set at this time. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
