UFC fighter Zubaira Tukhugov took to Instagram to brag about “slapping” Conor McGregor during the UFC 229 post-fight brawl.
One of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s teammates and cornermen took to social media following UFC 229 to brag about attacking Conor McGregor during the post-fight brawl.
UFC featherweight Zubaira Tukhugov took to Instagram in the aftermath of the brawl and confirmed that he “slapped” McGregor in the cage during the melee.
“I slapped him as promised,” said Tukhugov. “I promised to make him answer for his words and I did.”
Tukhugov followed up by denying that McGregor was able to punch him, which some have argued was the case in video footage of the brawl: “Tell everyone who thinks I was hit, where?” Where, nothing. Just this cop pushed me away, on the video, as if I was hit, in short. Not missed, was not even close.”
Tukhugov is a member of the UFC featherweight roster, though he has not competed since a split decision loss to Renato Moicano at UFC 198 in 2016. Tukhugov was scheduled to meet Tiago Trator at UFC Fight Night 102 but was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA of a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample and was eventually handed a two year suspension by USADA after testing positive for ostarine.
The Chechen-born fighter was scheduled to meet McGregor’s longtime teammate Artem Lobov at UFC Fight Night 138 later this month. However, due to Tukhugov’s involvement in the UFC 229 post-fight brawl, the fight is almost certainly not going to take place.