Last Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 229, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov finally stepped into the cage together. Ahead of this fight, McGregor hit Nurmagomedov with a near ceaseless stream of trash talk, some of which was even directed at Nurmagomedov’s father Abdulmanap.
While Khabib Nurmagomedov clearly didn’t take kindly to Conor McGregor’s choice to involve topics like family and faith in his pre-fight trash talk, his father Abdulmanap says he has forgiven the Irish MMA superstar after speaking to the aksakals (male elders) of his community.
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“As-salamu alaykum all,” Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov said on Instagram early on Tuesday morning. “I forgive Conor McGregor, all in the past. It is necessary to make an analysis of everything that happened, and learn lessons. After talking with aksakals and wise countrymen, they decided to move to other heights. I hope this is a blessing.”
While Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov has forgiven Conor McGregor, he has not forgiven his own son.
Shortly after Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in the UFC 229 main event, he leapt out of the Octagon and attacked McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis, essentially inciting a riot in the process. Seconds later, McGregor was getting into it with several of Nurmagomedov’s teammates inside the cage, while Nurmagomedov and Danis had to be pulled apart outside it.
While Nurmagomedov is likely facing hefty punishments from the Nevada State Athletic Commission and UFC, Abdulmanap says those punishments will pale in comparison to what he has in store for his son.
“I will impose a punishment tougher than the UFC’s,” Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov told Tass.ru (translation Bloody Elbow). “I warned him. For me, discipline comes first. You do whatever you want in the Octagon, [but] outside — this is the border of civilians, where there are children, women, strangers.”
What do you think of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s choice to forgive Conor McGregor?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/9/2018.