Khabib threatens to leave UFC if teammate fired

Khabib Nurmagomedov has threatened to leave the UFC, if the promotion cuts ties with his teammate and rostered featherweight Zubaira Tukhugov.

In an Instagram post on Thursday, Nurmagomedov (27-0), who defended his lightweight championship against Conor McGregor in a deeply personal fight at UFC 229 last weekend, told the UFC to “send me my broken contract” if they cut Tukhugov, who was involved in UFC 229’s post-fight melee.

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I would like to address @ufc Why didn’t you fire anyone when their team attacked the bus and injured a couple of people? They could have killed someone there, why no one says anything about insulting my homeland, religion, nation, family? Why do you have to punish my team, when both teams fought. If you say that I started it, then I do not agree, I finished what he had started. In any case, punish me, @zubairatukhugov has nothing to do with that. If you think that I’ll keep silent then you are mistaken. You canceled Zubaira’s fight and you want to dismiss him just because he hit Conor. But don’t forget that it was Conor who had hit my another Brother FIRST, just check the video. if you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too. We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my Brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise I’ll break it myself. And one more thing, you can keep my money that you are withholding. You are pretty busy with that, I hope it won’t get stuck in your throat. We have defended our honor and this is the most important thing. We intend to go to the end. #Brothers

A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on Oct 11, 2018 at 6:32am PDT

“I would like to address UFC,” Nurmagomedov wrote. “Why didn’t you fire anyone when their team attacked the bus and injured a couple people? They could have killed someone there, why no one says anything about insulting my homeland, religion, nation, family?

“Why do you have to punish my team, when both teams fought. If you say that I started it, then I do not agree, I finished what he had started. In any case, punish me, [Tukhugov] has nothing to do with that.

“If you think that I’ll keep silent then you are mistaken. You canceled Zubaira’s fight and you want to dismiss him just because he hit Conor. But don’t forget that it was Conor who had hit my another Brother FIRST, just check the video.

“If you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too. We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my Brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise I’ll break it myself.”

Nurmagomedov also told the UFC to “keep” his $2 million payday, which is still being withheld by the Nevada State Athletic Commission during its investigation.

Tukhugov (18-4) is from Chechnya, and is a member of Nurmagomedov’s team. He and McGregor (21-4) were caught on camera in a brief exchange in last weekend’s brawl, which began when Nurmagomedov left the Octagon to confront McGregor’s corner.

Tukhugov posted a video on social media shortly after, saying he “slapped him as promised,” according to a translation by BloodyElbow.com.

Tukhugov was scheduled to face McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov at the end of the month in a UFC bout. The UFC has not made any official announcement regarding his release.

The NSAC is expected to file complaints on Nurmagomedov and McGregor for their roles in last weekend’s incident in Las Vegas. They are facing potential fines and suspensions. There were no arrests made.