A formal step has been taken in the handing down of punishments for the brawl from UFC 229. It featured Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor, but the process is not complete yet. As reported by USA Today's MMAJunkie, the Nevada State Athletic Commission unanimously voted to extend the suspensions of Nurmagomedov and McGregor, given in the immediate aftermath of a melee the two were in at the conclusion of UFC 229. Neither man was present for the hearing, but both will be in front of the commission for another hearing on December 10. Further sanctions are expected to be handed down at that meeting.

A "comprehensive investigation" is still ongoing.

The hearing

The two were initially suspended for 10 days, the mandatory maximum length of suspension allowed for fighters awaiting a hearing. No complaints were filed by the commission against either competitor, but the formal complaints will supposedly be ready for the December hearing.

As MMA Fighting states, Nurmagomedov's $2 million purse from his UFC Lightweight Title fight with McGregor was withheld as a result of his role in the matter. The commission elected to return half of it to the Dagestani fighter, with chair Anthony Marnell suggesting it would help Nurmagomedov pay off any expenses.

There is a chance, however, that the commission still fines the champion a noteworthy amount of his UFC 229 earnings, which could end up around $5-6 million after pay-per-view earnings.

McGregor may also face a monetary fine and other sanctions. Nevada Deputy Attorney General Caroline Bateman said she considers Nurmagomedov and the fighters' managers most at fault for the mayhem, but called the post-fight melee, as a whole, harmful to MMA, unsportsmanlike, and illegal.

The rivalry and brawl

McGregor and Nurmagomedov have been at each other's throats for about two years now, and it all started when McGregor, then-featherweight champion, moved up to lightweight for a title shot — one that Nurmagomedov felt he was deserving of.

The two would then spend most of 2017 away from the action, as Nurmagomedov was forced out of a March 2017 bout due to weight-cutting issues. The Irish superstar chased a lucrative boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. However, outside of the ring, both men continued to throw verbal fire at one another.

With then-lightweight champion McGregor inactive, the UFC chose to book Nurmagomedov as one of the participants in the main event of UFC 223 to determine a new champion.

In the days leading up to the event, Nurmagomedov slapped Artem Lobov, a friend and teammate of McGregor's. This prompted McGregor to appear at the Barclays Center and throw a hand dolly into a bus holding several UFC fighters, including Nurmagomedov.

The two finally met at UFC 229, with Nurmagomedov retaining his title via a fourth-round submission. Following the fight, Nurmagomedov continued to talk trash to McGregor, until Dillon Danis, a Bellator fighter and McGregor teammate, yelled back, prompting Nurmagomedov to jump out of the cage to attack McGregor's team. McGregor climbed up a cage wall and traded punches with some of Nurmagomedov's corner before he was sucker punched from behind.
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