Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov Separated Following Tense Face Off at UFC 229 Weigh-Ins
The stage is finally set for what may go down as the biggest fight in UFC history as Khabib Nurmagomedov puts his lightweight title on the line against Conor McGregor on Saturday night from Las Vegas.
The ceremonial weigh-ins were the final hurdle to clear on Friday with Nurmagomedov and McGregor staring each other down for the last time before meeting inside the Octagon.
McGregor was the first to the stage and he was greeted by a uproarious crowd that was elated to see the Irish superstar back in the UFC for the first time in nearly two years.
Joining McGregor on stage was hip-hop superstar Drake, who has been a fan of the former two-division champion for some time. The two struck up a friendship after McGregor visited Drake’s hometown of Toronto in promotion for his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather last year.
Folllowing McGregor came the reigning lightweight champion, who was met with a chorus of boos from the partisan crowd that definitely favored the Irishman.
After both fighters stepped on the scale, UFC president Dana White had no desire to let Nurmagomedov and McGregor get too close to each other and that was with good reason as it turned out.
Just when it looked like they might come nose to nose, McGregor pushed down White’s arms holding him back as he made a move towards Nurmagomedov as security rushed forward to stop any kind of melee from happening.
After the tension cooled down, McGregor took to the microphone where he spoke to the crowd in attendance.
“It’s good to be back,” McGregor shouted. “The king is home”
As for Nurmagomedov, he looked calm in the face of the storm as the fans in attendance were definitely not on his side.
“Tomorrow night I’m going to smash your boy,” Nurmagomedov said. “I want to say thank you to all Irish fans, all fans around the world. Because of you guys, this fight happened.”
McGregor and Nurmagomedov weren’t alone in nearly coming to blows on stage because the heavyweight fight between Derrick Lewis and Alexander Volkov almost erupted after they faced off at the weigh-ins.
Volkov was wearing a traditional Russian hat and Lewis took it upon himself to slap it off his head while they were staring down. Volkov then appeared to almost take a swing at Lewis as security guards rushed into hold “The Black Beast” back.
Cooler heads eventually prevailed as the fighters were led off the stage.
UFC 229 goes down on Saturday night from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with the pay-per-view main card starting at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
