Russian President Vladimir Putin met undisputed lightweight Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) UFC Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov after his famous win against Irish fighter Conor McGregor.
On Sunday, Khabib defeated McGregor in fourth round submission followed by a brawl in the arena when Khabib attacked one of the teammates of McGregor.
During the meeting, Putin congratulated Khabib on his win stating that he would like to thank Khabib’s father for raising such a great fighter. “We have been watching you closely and rooting for you and I am going to ask your father to cut some slack because what matters is you fought like a fighter and you won,” Putin said.
“You won decisively and with dignity.”
Talking about the post-match brawl, Khabib said he is hoping that Nevada Athletic Commission will give the decision in his favour. To this, Putin replied: “We all know that it was a provocation and I know your father will understand this that it was done to provoke you and use it against you in the fight.”
“I believe that all of us in our country is one big family and no matter what happens, we try to avoid rashness like charging someone regardless of what’s going on,” Putin said, adding of course “if someone attacks us from outside than all of us-not just you-can charge them and there could be hell to pay”.
