Fight history
Khabib vs. McGregor, UFC 229: The Scorecards, the Finish and the Brawl
Khabib was up 29-27 on all three cards when McGregor tapped in the fourth. Then he jumped the cage, and the fight became the second story of the night.
Nurmagomedov
McGregorAt a glance
- ResultKhabib by submission (neck crank, from the back), round 4, 3:03; referee Herb Dean
- The judgesDerek Cleary, Sal D'Amato and Junichiro Kamijo: 29-27 Khabib on all three cards after three rounds
- The statsSignificant strikes 70-51 to Khabib; 3 takedowns from 7 attempts; 12:14 of control
- The brawlKhabib suspended nine months and fined $500,000; McGregor six months and $50,000
- The buysAn estimated 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, a UFC record
- Our card29-27 Khabib after three rounds
What was at stake
The lightweight title, and the biggest grudge the UFC had ever sold. Khabib Nurmagomedov came in 26-0 and making his first defense, according to Sherdog's preview and UFC.com. He had won the vacant belt against Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 on April 7, 2018, after the UFC stripped Conor McGregor of it, which UFC.com and Bleacher Report both report.
McGregor, 21-3, had not fought in MMA since knocking out Eddie Alvarez for the title in November 2016, CBS Sports and UFC.com note. In between he boxed Floyd Mayweather on August 26, 2017, and lost by TKO in the tenth round, according to CBS Sports and ESPN.
The feud had already turned physical. On April 5, 2018, two days before UFC 223, McGregor threw a hand truck at a bus carrying Khabib and other fighters, which MMA Torch and CBS Sports both describe. Flying glass injured Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg, and both were pulled from the card. McGregor later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was given community service and an anger management course, the Daily Beast reports. The rematch of all of that drew an estimated 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, a UFC record according to Fightful, citing Dave Meltzer, and Guinness World Records. The UFC has never published its own figure.
Watch the fight
The UFC has put the whole fight on its official YouTube channel. Tap to play it here.
The official scorecards
The fight ended in the fourth round, so the judges' cards were never read out. They were released afterwards. UFC.com, CBS Sports and the Associated Press all report that the three judges had Khabib ahead 29-27. The AP and JOE report that all three gave him the second round 10-8, and the AP and MMAWeekly that all three gave McGregor the third. That leaves the first round 10-9 for Khabib on every card. Scores are written Khabib first.
| Judge | R1 | R2 | R3 | After R3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Cleary | 10-9 | 10-8 | 9-10 | 29-27 |
| Sal D'Amato | 10-9 | 10-8 | 9-10 | 29-27 |
| Junichiro Kamijo | 10-9 | 10-8 | 9-10 | 29-27 |
Referee: Herb Dean. Sherdog named the three judges before the fight. No outlet we could read prints the scanned cards themselves; the rows above follow from the reports that all three judges scored every round the same way.
All three of Sherdog's media scorers had the same card, 10-9, 10-8 and 10-9 McGregor. There was no dispute about who was winning. The only open question was whether McGregor could turn it in the last two rounds.
Round by round
Round 1 - Khabib on all three cards
McGregor came forward early, UFC.com notes, but Khabib shot for a takedown inside the first minute and kept him against the fence and on the floor for most of the round, which Sherdog, Bleacher Report and the AP all describe. The striking was almost level on paper, 7 significant strikes to 6 for Khabib, but he had 4:08 of control and McGregor had none. McGregor landed 39 strikes in all, but only 6 of them counted as significant.
Round 2 - Khabib 10-8 on all three cards
The decisive round. Early on a Khabib right hand put McGregor down: Sherdog calls it "a missile right hand", and Yahoo Sports says Khabib "actually dropped McGregor with a right hand". The official statistics count no knockdown. Khabib then took him down and beat him up from on top, which Sherdog, UFC.com and the AP all describe. The numbers are the most lopsided of the fight: 41 significant strikes to 5, 58 in all to 7, and 4:22 of control.
Round 3 - McGregor on all three cards
McGregor's best round. He kept it standing, landed to the body and in the clinch, and stopped Khabib's takedowns, which CBS Sports, UFC.com and Sherdog all report; the official count has Khabib landing none of his three attempts. McGregor outlanded him 34 to 15 in significant strikes. Yahoo Sports summed up the round: McGregor "had a better third round and kept the fight standing, but never landed a significant punch."
Round 4 - the finish
Khabib took McGregor down early in the round. McGregor turned his back to avoid the mount, CBS Sports reports, and Khabib finished it from there: McGregor tapped at 3:03. Many outlets called it a rear-naked choke, and the official ufcstats record lists it that way; UFC.com's fighter page and Sherdog record it as a neck crank. Either way, it came from the back.
What the numbers say
The official statistics, round by round (Khabib first):
| Round | Sig. strikes | Total strikes | Head | Body | Takedowns | Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 7 – 6 | 18 – 39 | 7 – 6 | 0 – 0 | 1/2 – 0/0 | 4:08 – 0:00 |
| R2 | 41 – 5 | 58 – 7 | 33 – 3 | 8 – 2 | 1/1 – 0/0 | 4:22 – 0:00 |
| R3 | 15 – 34 | 17 – 44 | 12 – 22 | 2 – 12 | 0/3 – 0/0 | 1:47 – 0:00 |
| R4 | 7 – 6 | 11 – 6 | 6 – 3 | 1 – 2 | 1/1 – 0/0 | 1:57 – 0:00 |
| Total | 70 – 51 | 104 – 96 | 58 – 34 | 11 – 16 | 3/7 – 0/0 | 12:14 – 0:00 |
The totals make it look closer than it was. McGregor landed nearly as many strikes in all, 96 to 104, but 39 of them came in the first round, only 6 of them significant, and 44 in the third. In the second round, the one that decided the cards, Khabib outlanded him 41 to 5 in significant strikes. And McGregor never had control of the fight on the floor: 12:14 of control time to none.
What the numbers cannot show is how the third round felt. McGregor won it clearly on volume, but Yahoo Sports wrote that he never landed a significant punch, and he was taken down and finished in the fourth.
How we scored it
| Round | MMA.SOCIAL | Why |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | 10-9 Khabib | Takedown inside the first minute and 4:08 of control. McGregor's strikes from underneath did little. |
| R2 | 10-8 Khabib | Dropped McGregor with a right hand, then 41-5 in significant strikes and 4:22 of control. Dominant and damaging: a clear 10-8. |
| R3 | 10-9 McGregor | Kept it standing, stopped every takedown and won the striking 34-15. |
| R4 | - | Khabib by submission at 3:03. |
| After R3 | 29-27 Khabib |
Our card matches all three judges. There is no scoring controversy here: the second round was as clear a 10-8 as a title fight produces, and McGregor's third round was real but came too late to change the picture. The finish settled it anyway.
The brawl
Seconds after the tap, Khabib climbed over the cage and went after McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis outside it, which Yahoo Sports and CBS Sports both describe. While he was out of the cage, members of his team climbed in and hit McGregor; CBS Sports says three of them attacked him. Three men were arrested and released, McGregor declined to press charges, and Khabib's purse was held back, CBS Sports reports. Dana White said that night that "three of [Khabib's] guys have been arrested", according to Cageside Press, and on the broadcast: "I don't even know what to say right now. I'm just disgusted and sick over it." He also said Khabib "absolutely keeps his title", as CBS Sports reports.
Khabib spoke at the press conference. "I know this is not my best side. This is not my best side. I'm a human being," he said, according to Cageside Press. McGregor wrote on Twitter: "Good knock. Looking forward to the rematch." Cageside Press and CBS Sports both print it.
The athletic commission ruled on January 29, 2019, backdated to the night of the fight, according to CBS Sports, theScore and Sports Illustrated:
| Who | Suspension | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Khabib Nurmagomedov | Nine months (six if he made an anti-bullying public service announcement) | $500,000 |
| Conor McGregor | Six months | $50,000 |
| Abubakar Nurmagomedov | One year | $25,000 |
| Zubaira Tukhugov | One year | $25,000 |
| Dillon Danis (ruled in February 2019) | Seven months | $7,500 |
Danis's penalty is from Cageside Press and Bloody Elbow.
What happened next
Khabib defended the title twice more and never lost. At UFC 242 on September 7, 2019, he submitted interim champion Dustin Poirier with a rear-naked choke at 2:06 of the third round to go 28-0, according to CBS Sports and Al Jazeera. At UFC 254 on October 24, 2020, he submitted Justin Gaethje with a triangle choke in the second round and retired in the cage at 29-0, citing the death of his father, which Cageside Press and Al Jazeera both report.
The rematch McGregor asked for never happened. He knocked out Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds at UFC 246 in January 2020, then lost twice to Poirier in 2021, the second time when his leg broke at the end of the first round, according to UFC.com and CBS Sports. He came back five years later at UFC 329 on July 11, 2026, and lost to Max Holloway at 1:09 of the first round when his right knee gave out, which UFC.com and CBS Sports both report.
The verdict
As a fight, UFC 229 was one-sided. Khabib was ahead on every card, won the decisive round by a distance and finished McGregor in the fourth; our card matches the judges'. McGregor's third round showed he could compete standing, but he could not stop the takedown. What made the night famous happened after the tap, and it cost Khabib more than the fight did: a $500,000 fine and nine months out. He still retired unbeaten.
Full fight stats: Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor. The rest of the night: UFC 229. More: the longest win streaks in UFC history, the most submission wins and the most title fights.
Sources
- UFCStats round-by-round statistics (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- Sherdog - UFC 229 play-by-play, results and round scoring
- Sherdog - UFC 229 preview
- UFC.com - Khabib smothers McGregor, defends title at UFC 229
- UFC.com - Nurmagomedov and McGregor battle in the biggest fight in UFC history
- UFC.com - Conor McGregor athlete page
- CBS Sports - UFC 229 results: Khabib submits McGregor
- CBS News (AP) - Brawl erupts after Nurmagomedov chokes out McGregor
- Yahoo Sports - Post-fight brawl mars Khabib's win
- Yahoo Sports (MMAWeekly) - The judges' cards in round three
- JOE - Judges' scorecards confirm a 10-8 second round for Khabib
- SportsJOE - The UFC 229 scorecards
- Bleacher Report - UFC 229 results
- Fightful - UFC 229 sets the pay-per-view record
- Guinness World Records - Largest UFC pay-per-view audience
- MMA Torch - McGregor throws a dolly at the bus
- The Daily Beast - McGregor pleads guilty to disorderly conduct
- CBS Sports - UFC 229 predictions and the bus incident
- CBS Sports - Mayweather vs. McGregor
- CBS Sports - Brawl fallout: arrests, fines and more
- Cageside Press - Dana White: three of Khabib's teammates arrested
- Cageside Press - Khabib on his actions at UFC 229
- Cageside Press - McGregor: looking forward to the rematch
- CBS Sports - McGregor commends Khabib, angles for a rematch
- CBS Sports - McGregor and Khabib punished for the UFC 229 brawl
- theScore - Khabib suspended nine months, fined $500,000
- Sports Illustrated - McGregor and Khabib suspensions
- Cageside Press - Dillon Danis suspended seven months
- CBS Sports - UFC 242: Khabib submits Poirier
- Al Jazeera - Khabib beats Poirier
- Cageside Press - UFC 254 results
- Al Jazeera - Khabib retires after beating Gaethje
- CBS Sports - UFC 329 live results: McGregor vs. Holloway
Questions
Who won Khabib vs. McGregor?
Khabib Nurmagomedov, by submission at 3:03 of the fourth round at UFC 229 on October 6, 2018. He kept the lightweight title and moved to 27-0.
What were the Khabib vs. McGregor scorecards?
The fight did not go the distance, but at the stoppage all three judges, Derek Cleary, Sal D'Amato and Junichiro Kamijo, had Khabib ahead 29-27. They gave him the first round 10-9 and the second 10-8, and gave McGregor the third.
Was it a rear-naked choke or a neck crank?
It came from the back, and sources name it both ways. The official ufcstats record and many outlets call it a rear-naked choke; UFC.com's fighter page and Sherdog record it as a neck crank.
What punishment did Khabib get for the UFC 229 brawl?
A nine-month suspension and a $500,000 fine, backdated to the fight. McGregor was suspended six months and fined $50,000, and two of Khabib's teammates were suspended a year and fined $25,000 each.
How many pay-per-view buys did UFC 229 do?
An estimated 2.4 million, a UFC record, according to Fightful citing Dave Meltzer and to Guinness World Records. The UFC never released an official number.
Did Khabib and McGregor ever have a rematch?
No. Khabib defended the title against Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje and retired at 29-0 in October 2020. McGregor fought Donald Cerrone, Poirier twice and Max Holloway instead.
