Khabib Nurmagomedov isn't planning to show up to the most important UFC meeting of his life, and it will cost him the biggest fights of his career
- Khabib Nurmagomedov intends to no-show the most important UFC meeting of his life.
- The Russian wrestler has been ordered to attend a Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) disciplinary hearing on December 10.
- At the meeting he will find out whether or not he will be punished for the events that transpired after UFC 229.
- The NSAC explicitly said that failure to attend the meeting will have dire consequences - and Nurmagomedov has said he does not intend to show up.
- This means he will never be allowed to fight in Las Vegas again and will have to kiss goodbye to the biggest fights of his career.
Khabib Nurmagomedov has been ordered to attend a disciplinary hearing in Las Vegas on December 10, but it is a meeting he has no intention of going to.
The Russian wrestler was in fine form in his UFC 229 lightweight championship fight against Conor McGregor on October 6.
Nurmagomedov dominated McGregor, dropped the Irish striker to the floor with a thudding right hand in the second round, and submitted him for good in the fourth.
However, rather than celebrate the greatest victory in his mixed martial arts career, Nurmagomedov mounted the octagon, jumped over the fence, and was seen on video charging at McGregor's cage-side friend Dillon Danis.
While that was going on, post-fight brawls erupted in the octagon itself as members of Nurmagomedov's team were seen attacking McGregor.
This prompted the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), the regulating body for all combat sport events in the state, to investigate the incident, and it has instructed Nurmagomedov and McGregor to return to Nevada so they can learn, in person, whether punishments will be given out.
But Nurmagomedov has no intention of attending. "The Nevada State Athletic Commission convened because of what happened after the McGregor match," Nurmagomedov told beIN Sport, according to The Mirror and Mail Online. "On December 10 they will meet again and call me but I'm not going, I'm not guilty."
Nurmagomedov does not believe that he did much wrong after the McGregor win and even said that Russia president Vladimir Putin was proud of him.
Speaking at the press conference that followed UFC 229 last month, Nurmagomedov gave a speech where he apologised to the Nevada Athletic Commission. However, he reiterated the chain of events that led up to UFC 229, which included McGregor's attack on a UFC team bus that Nurmagomedov himself was on, and he spoke about McGregor's antics in the build-up to UFC 229 itself.
Nurmagomedov said that McGregor talked about his religion, his country, and his father. He then said he was perplexed at how the post-fight conversation was focusing on the fact that he jumped over the cage, rather than McGregor's negative comments before the event.
"I started the fight and I finished as a man," Nurmagomedov reportedly said to BeIN Sport this week. "They'll punish the initiator, I won the fight in the rules. After the fight I showed him that what he did before the fight would not be unrequited."
Nurmagomedov's no-show will cost him
The NSAC will punish Nurmagomedov heavily if he fails to attend the December 10 hearing.
Just last week Nurmagomedov and McGregor were both issued stark ultimatums that could tank their careers - the NSAC said failure to show up at the December meeting will mean they will never be allowed to fight in Las Vegas again.
Only two of the top 20 best-selling pay-per-view (PPV) events in combat sports history were booked outside of the city, which shows that 90% of the world's biggest fights happen in Las Vegas.
One of those fights involved Nurmagomedov, as his UFC 229 bout against McGregor reportedly attracted 2.4 million PPV purchases, which makes it the joint third biggest fight of all time.
Nurmagomedov could enter more of these super-fights, as he has been linked with a boxing rules contest against the unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather, and a UFC rematch against McGregor.
But if Las Vegas is no longer on Nurmagomedov's map, it would have severe ramifications to his status as a marketable fighter - and he may as well kiss those big fights goodbye.