There appears to be bad blood between Khamzat Chimaev and the Khabib Nurmagomedov camp.
Multiple videos posted online captured an altercation in the crowd at UFC 280 between Chimaev, who was seated cageside, and Abubakar Nurmagomedov, who competed earlier on the card. The incident occurred while newly-crowned lightweight champion Islam Makhachev was doing an in-cage interview following his victory over Charles Oliveira in the main event. The two UFC fighters had to be separated by security at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
The origin of the scuffle is currently unclear, but according RT Sport, Abubakar sent Chimaev a warning on social media in 2021 after Chimaev said he would “tear apart” Khabib Nurmagomedov. Abubakar is the cousin of the former UFC lightweight champion.
Abubakar Nurmagomedov defeated Gadzhi Omargadzhiev via unanimous decision in a welterweight bout on the UFC 280 preliminary card. Chimaev, one of the sport’s rising stars, is coming off a first-round submission of Kevin Holland in a catchweight matchup at UFC 279 on Sept. 10.
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