UFC: Nurmagomedov and McGregor receive bans for post-fight brawl

Las Vegas, January 30: UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor have been banned for nine and six months respectively for their roles in a post-fight brawl at UFC 229.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission handed out the suspensions and fines of $500,000 for Nurmagomedov and $50,000 for McGregor at a hearing on Tuesday (January 29).

Both suspensions are retroactively imposed from October 6.

Nurmagomedov's suspension can be reduced to six months if he "cooperates in the filming and distributing of an anti-bullying public service announcement".

The 155-pound fighter defeated McGregor by submission in four rounds in October and subsequently jumped out of the cage and got into a fight with McGregor's training partner, Dillon Danis.

Nurmagomedov was eventually calmed down, but his actions brought about further incidents in the ring where McGregor threw a punch at a member of from Khabib's corner and was then hit with a sucker punch from another man.

Nurmagomedov's manager Ali Abdelaziz expressed his unhappiness with the disparity between the two punishments.

"I don't think it's fair," he told ESPN. "Khabib gets $500,000 and Conor gets $50,000? I think it's b******t."

Nurmagomedov's brother, Abubakar, has also been suspended for one year for jumping into the cage after the fight. He was additionally fined $25,000.