You'd almost forget Conor McGregor was beaten convincingly such was the fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov overshadowed by what happened immediately afterwards.
As the fall-out continues from the violent scenes inside and outside the Octagon after Nurmagomedov had forced McGregor to tap out, we were joined by MMA Fighting's Deputy Managing Editor Marc Raimondi to discuss UFC229 and where that leaves the key protagonists.
In regards to the post-fight scenes and how it all came to a head, Raimondi believes UFC "have some culpability".
"This entire fight was based on bad blood. That was the name of the special that aired on ESPN here in the States and the initial overture that went above and beyond what fight promotion usually is was when McGregor of course, as we all know in April, attacked a bus in the loading dock of Barclays Centre in Brookly that Nurmagomedov was on and threw the dolly through the bus window, that's where this all started, at least that's where it really ignited," he said.
We lost the match but won the battle.
The war goes on. pic.twitter.com/CRtPaGfOnn— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 8, 2018
"The UFC used that for the fight promotion. They used it in promos. They played it over and over again to sell this fight and it sold extremely well as we all know. But did it also cause others to think that there is no responsibility for their actions? Is it all about promoting fights?"
As for the fight itself and the way in which McGregor was dismantled overall by Nurmagomedov, Raimondi felt McGregor did do well in defending some of Nurmagomedov's attacks on the ground.
"Khabib would certainly be a favourite in the re-match if there is one and there probably will be. And possibly a greater favourite than the last time," he said, but adding that McGregor still has the punching ability to stun Nurmagomedov, provided he can land one.
"It never came on Saturday but certainly in the re-match that Khabib would be the favourite and would probably win but you just can't count out McGregor. And knowing what he knows now, he was able to make adjustments in the second Nate Diaz fight and you'd imagine that he'd be able to make some adjustments after having seen Khabib over the course of four rounds."
