“This is the most disgusting thing that has ever happened in the history of the company.”
Between April and October, UFC President Dana White went from being sickened by Conor McGregor’s infamous Brooklyn bus attack to insisting that footage of the fracas be used in all of UFC 229’s pre-fight promos.
White’s job is to make as many people as possible tune in to watch his events so only the most naive of fight fans were surprised to see the UFC make the most of the clip of McGregor hurling a hand truck through the window of a bus which was carrying Khabib Nurmagomedov and UFC 223’s red corner fighters.
The bus attack ramped up fan interest in the grudge match between McGregor and Nurmagomedov while more casual fans than ever before were persuaded to tune in to the UFC 229 main event.
And Nurmagomedov, who defended his lightweight title with a fourth-round submission victory over ‘The Notorious’, believes that the organisation probably conspired to have the bus attack take place.
“When I think back there are so many questions I don’t have the answer to, did they do it all on purpose? In my personal opinion, I feel like the bus incident was organised with UFC’s help,” Nurmagomedov told Russian outlet Channel 1, as translated by MMA Mania.
“I can’t accuse them, but I would give it 70 per cent that they did it. I wanted to get off the bus and all the other fighters on the bus confirmed this in their interviews, and all the managers as well.
“It all happened in a minute in a half, two minutes max. He’s there with his cameras and his PR team with him shooting. An important point – the Barclays Center is a very big arena, a 20,000-person arena, but he knew where we were exactly. How could they have known? And how did they enter the arena with a gang of 20, 30 men? Come on.
“Conor has nothing to do with this media event and has a gang with him but these jokers lead him and everyone to the elevator where our bus is? I’m an athlete, but I’m also educated. My brain works pretty well for 15 years of fighting. I haven’t taken many shots to the head so I still have brains.”
While Nurmagomedov’s victory over McGregor was nothing short of dominant, talk has already shifted to a rematch because of the still-bubbling hostility between the 155lbs rivals.
And, yes, the UFC will definitely use footage of the post-fight melee in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena when the time comes to promote Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor II. There is no doubt about that.
