This fight really was a massive occasion
Living in Ireland, it can be easy to forget the global significance of a Conor McGregor fight.
If you had any doubt about just how big a deal his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov was, then Khabib meeting with the President of Russia, Vladamir Putin, a few days’ after the events of UFC 229, will give you a good idea.
The Dagestani fighter, alongside his father, met with Putin and received congratulations from the President for his performance.
Путин поздравил Хабиба Нурмагомедова с победой. Сказал, что попросит его отца сильно не наказывать спортсмена? pic.twitter.com/F1rw3PZXAw
— Кремлевский пул РИА (@Kremlinpool_RIA) October 10, 2018
The conversation that takes place in the video is clearly in Russian, but it is believed that what Putin said roughly translates to: “I would like ask your father not to punish you too much, because your performance was full of confidence and conviction and you achieved your goal.”
This is a reference to what Khabib said when asked about the brawl that took place outside of the ring, where he joked that his dad was going to “smash” him when he got back to Russia.
This wasn’t his first interaction with the President since the fight on Sunday morning either.
In the post-fight press conference, Nurmagomedov stated that he had received a call from Putin, saying: “All media talk about like, take a photo with Putin, something like this, he just called me. And he say he very proud of me, I win, and he say congratulations.”
Khabib’s opponent at the weekend is quite familiar with the Russian president as well, of course, having been a guest of Putin’s at the World Cup Final in July.
And if you needed it, here is a complete timeline of the beef between Conor McGregor and Khabib, as they went all the way from Twitter buddies to mortal enemies in the space of a few years.
Warning: as there is simply a lot of meat to process, it is quite long.
