Honor vs. trash talk, and UFC’s culture war

Published May 3, 2019 4:00am ET



Fans were astounded last October when the prime-time Ultimate Fighting Championship bout between Irishman Conor McGregor and Dagestani grappler Khabib Nurmagomedov ended with an all-out brawl.

Immediately following his victory, Nurmagomedov jumped out of the octagon and began throwing punches at McGregor’s team, while the victor’s team leaped into the octagon to scrap with the vanquished McGregor himself. There was talk of withdrawing prize money from Nurmagomedov, who told the UFC he didn’t want the money and reiterated the numerous ways in which McGregor had insulted his honor. “This for me is very important,” Nurmagomedov said, explaining that theirs should be a sport of “respect.”

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