Nurmagomedov’s teammates Zubaira Tukhugov and Abubakar Nurmagomedov were also fined for their roles in the post-fight brawl, but UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier says Khabib took care of those fines as well as his own.
“I think that Khabib is doing the most honorable thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Cormier said on The MMA Hour. “Not many guys will pay the fine, the 500 grand, also pay the fines of your teammates and brothers. He’s paying their money too. Whatever they fine [Abubakar and Tukhugov], he’s gonna pay it too. Those are his brothers. They were acting to help him, I guess. They’re suspended longer, he will sit with them. That’s one thing about those guys and their lifestyle and their community is that they are family at the highest level and what he’s doing is so honorable. Not many people would do that. He’s doing it with the idea that even if they take his title, it does not mean more to him than standing next to his brothers. It doesn’t get any better than that. I appreciate it. I do think the fine was steep. Whatever. He also said that he’s not gonna fight there anymore. He’s very firm in his approach, he’s very firm in what he wants to convey to the world. I’m very proud of him. I’m proud of the man that Khabib has become from the moment he walked into AKA to who he is today, I’m very proud of him.”
If Nurmagomedov did pay all those fines, it would mean the lightweight champion paid a total of $550,000 to the NSAC.
DC and Nurmagomedov are teammates at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), which Cormier credits for Nurmagomedov handling the situation the way the fighter did.
“People usually, it’s the ego is normally the issue,” Cormier said. “What I believe Javier Mendez and Bob Cook do so tremendously is they control egos. ”
The lightweight champion also won’t fight again until his teammates are finished with their suspensions, meaning Nurmagomedov may not compete until late 2019.
