UFC 229 was billed as one of the biggest cards in MMA history and it turned out to be an amazing show full of terrific fights and unexpected finishes. At the same time, we know things took a real ugly turn when Khabib Nurmagomedov jumped over the Octagon fence after choking out Conor McGregor in the main event, leading to a massive melee that left a black hole on the sport. Below are some news and notes coming out of the event.
Nurmagomedov’s Purse Withheld by NAC
The Nevada Athletic Commission has withheld Nurmagomedov’s $2 million purse until further notice as the sanctioning body takes a look at video footage of the melee. McGregor was given his $3 million purse but Nurmagomedov will have to wait for his pay check until the investigation is completed. At some point he will have to be given some money but it’s very likely he will be fined, perhaps in the vicinity of 30% of his purse, making his decision to jump over the fence a costly one, to say the least.
Tukhugov vs. Lobov Cancelled
A featherweight bout between Zubaira Tukhugov and Artem Lobov that was set for UFC Fight Night 138 later this month has been cancelled, per UFC president Dana White. Tukhugov was involved in the melee as he was caught on video scaling the Octagon wall and then landing a blow on McGregor, and White says once the promotion takes a closer look at what happened he will most likely be cut from the roster. Lobov wasn’t involved in the melee but it’s likely he’ll be removed from the card as well. The UFC Moncton card looks weak on paper and losing the co-main event in this fashion is disappointing, to say the least.
Bonus Awards Handed Out
As usual, the UFC handed out four $50,000 bonus awards. “Fight of the Night” went to Tony Ferguson and Anthony Pettis for their all-out war in the co-main event that saw Ferguson finish Pettis via corner stoppage at the end of the second round. “Performance of the Night” bonuses went to Derrick Lewis for his insane comeback KO win over Alexander Volkov on the main card and Aspen Ladd for her brutal TKO victory over veteran Tonya Evinger on the undercard. There’s no doubt Nurmagomedov would have been given a bonus had he not jumped over the fence, so he cost himself additional money for his stupidy after the event.
UFC 229 Sets Attendance And Live Gate Record
One last note here, and it’s that the event broke the MMA record for both attendance and live gate in Nevada state. 20,034 paying customers were in attendance for a massive $17.2 million live gate. There has been no indication yet what the pay-per-view did, but according to Dave Meltzer on social media before the event, he believed the event would do around 2 million buys. If that’s the case, it would break the UFC record for PPV buys, though it would still fall well short of the 3 million that White claimed the event would do.
