5 most controversial UFC moments of 2018

#1 The UFC 229 brawl

All hell broke loose after UFC 229's main event

If McGregor’s attack on the bus was controversial, nobody could’ve predicted that it would only be the precursor to an incident even wilder later in 2018.

When the UFC announced that the Irishman would be challenging Khabib Nurmagomedov for the Lightweight title he’d never officially lost at October’s UFC 229, it was billed as the biggest fight in promotional history.

For McGregor, this was simply another chance to cement his legacy – both as the biggest draw in MMA history and also as an all-time great fighter.

For Nurmagomedov, however, it was a lot more than that. McGregor – used to trash-talking the likes of Nate Diaz and Floyd Mayweather – clearly didn’t realise that his Russian opponent was taking his verbal barbs far more seriously than any other previous opponent had done.

Usually, when a fight inside the Octagon ends, so does the rivalry between the two participating fighters. Even bitter feuds like Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva had been settled once the fight was over.

But that wasn’t the case at UFC 229. Nurmagomedov came out on top – submitting McGregor in the fourth round with a neck crank – but he wasn’t done there.

Spotting McGregor’s trash-talking training partner Dillon Danis at cageside, Khabib began to yell at him, and then suddenly clambered up the Octagon fence, and leapt over it into the crowd to attack him.

All hell broke loose as UFC officials tried desperately to restrain Nurmagomedov, but while this was going on, another brawl broke out inside the Octagon as McGregor attacked Khabib’s cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov and was then assaulted in turn by Khabib training partner – and UFC fighter – Zubaira Tukhugov.

Cooler heads finally prevailed – largely once Daniel Cormier entered the cage to calm Khabib down and McGregor had headed backstage – but we’re still feeling the repercussions of this insane event now, as the Nevada State Athletic Commission still haven’t decided on a punishment for the two men – anything up to a 12-month suspension has been mooted.

This wasn’t just the most controversial incident of 2018 – it might well go down as the most controversial incident in UFC history – and its aftershocks will undoubtedly continue for a while yet.