Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov: Irishman's coach firmly denies claims Dillon Danis called Russian 'f***ing Muslim rat' to spark post-fight brawl in Las Vegas

A ringside source told TMZ that McGregor's team-mate Danis shouted the religious slur between the second and third round of the UFC 229 showdown at the Staples Center.

Khabib is said to have heard the alleged insult, which caused him to throw his mouthpiece at Danis, jump out of the cage and attack him.

But McGregor's coach John Kavanagh said: "He actually didn't say anything. Now I was standing beside Dillon, I didn't see what he did but I could hear. So he didn't say anything.

"Now when I watched it back I've seen he kind of beckoned him on, you know, just stupid end of fight stuff. But I don't think it justified that level of response.

"Now maybe, there was something else in the lead up. Dillon is a bit of a troll online, so there's probably a build up of other stuff. Like I said, it wasn't that big of a deal to me, what Khabib did, it just really wasn't."




While chaos ensued outside of the octagon, McGregor and three of Khabib's team scrapped inside of it, with new footage appearing to show the Notorious throwing the first punch.

Las Vegas police confirmed no arrests were made following the brawl.

Khabib, 30, said sorry for his part in the melee but claimed he was provoked after McGregor, also 30, made inflammatory comments about his religion.

He said: "This is not my best side. He talked about my religion, my country, my father.

“This is a respectful sport. This is not a trash-talking sport. I want to change this game. You cannot talk about religions and nations."

McGregor called Khabib's manager Ali Abdelaziz a "f***ing snitch" and "terrorist" before the world title fight.



He also repeatedly called his opponent a "rat".

On September 20, American Danis, who fights in Bellator, tweeted: "Rats everywhere."

And after being mocked by UFC star Rafael dos Anjos, he wrote: "Let's fight then f*** commissions let's meet up and fight you p***y little b**** you give every fight you no heart rat".

SunSport has contacted Danis for comment.

Khabib forced McGregor to tap out in the fourth round with an expert neck crank.


Kavanagh hopes there are no serious repercussions for Khabib after his part in the ugly scenes following the fight.

He said: "I hope [The Nevada State Athletic Commission] is lenient on [Nurmagomedov]. Not just so we can get a rematch. I just love watching him fight.

"I can stretch myself to understand his reaction. I can't stretch myself to understand [his team-mates'] reaction. For Khabib, it's not the end of the world.

"But a man coming up, a trained fighter with bare knuckles, hitting a guy who's tired, who's taken some rounds and taking some shots, there has to be ramifications for that. An example has to be made… It's criminal. It's assault."

UFC chief Dana White has revealed 27-0 lightweight champion Khabib could lose his $2million (£1.5million) purse.

He claims the Nevada State Athletic Commission are holding out on his prize money.

White said: "I don’t think there’s too many people that don’t understand why he did it.

"The guy who’s yelling at you means nothing."

He added: "They took his whole purse right now and they're talking about keeping his purse.

“I do not think that that should happen. You should not be able to keep his whole purse."

“I think they should take a quarter of a million dollars from him."

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