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This week marks the three-year anniversary of the biggest show in UFC history, UFC 229. In many ways, the promotion is still feeling the aftershocks of it today.
UFC fans will never forget what happened in UFC 229’s main event, as Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor. However, the event was about much more than just that.
So with UFC 229 now part of the history of the world’s biggest MMA promotion, it’s worth a look back at the show to remember some things that have somehow been forgotten.
With that in mind, here are five things that fans may have forgotten about UFC 229.
#5. The brawl after the main event nearly cost Islam Makhachev his UFC career
Outside of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s earth-shattering win over Conor McGregor in the main event, the main thing that fans remember about UFC 229 is the wild brawl that erupted after the fight was done. For those who’ve forgotten, Khabib decided to leap into the crowd to attack McGregor’s cornerman Dillon Danis. That triggered a melee inside and outside the octagon that involved both fighters and their teams.
Cooler heads eventually prevailed and the combatants were separated. However, at the time, it looked like the incident would not go without consequences. Both McGregor and Khabib were fined and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Further punishment was expected to come for the two members of Khabib’s team that were heavily involved.
Incredibly, it was announced at the time that current UFC lightweight title contender Islam Makhachev would be cut from his contract and would never fight in the UFC again. It was initially tricky to see what part Makhachev played in the brawl. Eventually, footage leaked on Twitter that showed the Dagestani punching Danis in the back of the head.
Thankfully though, perhaps due to the power wielded by Khabib over the UFC brass, everything was eventually forgiven and Makhachev was welcomed back to the promotion with open arms. Three years later, he seems destined to become the heir to the throne vacated by Khabib when he retired last year.
#4. Derrick Lewis earned a UFC heavyweight title shot on four weeks’ notice with his win over Alexander Volkov
UFC 229’s main event was so shocking that the majority of the event’s undercard has since been forgotten. However, the show was in fact one of the greatest in UFC history, with a number of thrilling bouts on offer.
One such clash saw Derrick Lewis pull off one of the best comebacks in UFC history. He knocked out Alexander Volkov with just eleven seconds remaining in the third round of their fight.
Prior to the knockout, ‘The Black Beast’ had barely landed a strike on ‘Drago’, who seemed to be cruising to a victory. What many fans have forgotten, though, is that Lewis was rewarded for his efforts with a shot at the UFC heavyweight title. Incredibly, that shot came just four weeks after UFC 229 in the main event of UFC 230.
The show saw Lewis fight then-UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier for the title. Unfortunately, ‘The Black Beast’ came up short in a relatively one-sided encounter. The fact that Lewis even fought for the UFC heavyweight title now seems to have been forgotten. The failed shot was barely mentioned during the build to his most recent title fight at UFC 265.
In a sense, it’s a testament to the impact of UFC 229 that despite being a strong show in its own right, nobody really remembers UFC 230 three years on.
#3. Jalin Turner made just $10k for his fight with Vicente Luque
UFC 229 ended up pulling in an estimated 2.4 million buys on pay-per-view, while the live gate alone drew a massive $17,188,894.67. Essentially, no show in UFC history has brought so much money into the promotion’s coffers.
Naturally, the payouts for the show were also pretty monstrous. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor received $2m and $3m respectively. Both fighters probably earned far more than that due to receiving their cuts of the pay-per-view revenue.
Outside of the headliners, the likes of Tony Ferguson ($155k), Anthony Pettis ($145k) and Derrick Lewis ($270k) also received hefty payouts. However, as is the way with the UFC’s pay structure, a handful of fighters made very little in comparison to McGregor and Nurmagomedov.
If the payouts received by Yana Kunitskaya ($50k) and Felice Herrig ($40k) seem low, though, it’s worth sparing a thought for Jalin Turner. ‘The Tarantula’ made his UFC debut at the event. Despite the show being arguably the biggest in UFC history, he made just $10k for his efforts.
Worse still, Turner lasted just under four minutes with opponent Vicente Luque. He was hugely overmatched by ‘The Silent Assassin’ and fell to a first round TKO.
Turner’s payout from UFC 229 has long been forgotten by fans and was ignored in the first place. However, it remains a stark reminder that the promotion’s pay structure still has a long way to go before it becomes fair to all of its athletes.
#2. Sean O’Malley was supposed to fight at UFC 229
UFC 229 was a cleverly booked card by the promotion in terms of which fighters were featured on the undercard of the show.
The UFC clearly recognized that more eyeballs would be on the event than usual due to the huge main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. They made sure to showcase some of their finest young talent underneath the headlining stars.
Tony Ferguson’s win over Anthony Pettis saw his stock rise even higher than it already was, while Dominick Reyes and Derrick Lewis both went onto fight for UFC titles not long after the event. However, one fighter who the UFC hoped would steal the spotlight was unable to compete in the end due to a drug test failure. That fighter? None other than current bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley.
‘Sugar’ was set to fight Jose Quinonez in what was expected to be the main card opener. However, just five days before the event, it was announced that he’d been pulled from the card by USADA. It later came to light that O’Malley had tested positive for the banned substance ostarine. He was subsequently hit with a lengthy ban, meaning he didn’t return to action until March 2020, well over a year after UFC 229.
O’Malley’s star has risen substantially since his return thanks to wins over Eddie Wineland and Thomas Almeida.
However, if he had been able to fight at UFC 229, there’s a chance he could’ve seized the extra spotlight offered and may be further along in his UFC journey than he is today.
#1. Many UFC fans thought Conor McGregor would beat Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s win over Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 229 was one of the more one-sided fights of the Dagestani’s career. Essentially, ‘The Eagle’ beat ‘The Notorious’ up for four straight rounds before submitting him with a neck crank.
However, it’s easy to forget today, however, that at the time many UFC fans were actually favoring McGregor to defeat Khabib in their clash. Many fully expected the Irishman to come away with the UFC lightweight title. It wasn’t an illogical pick by any means, either. At the time, Khabib’s kryptonite was considered to be a powerful, accurate striker like McGregor, as fans had been concerned with how easily Michael Johnson had been able to tag him with punches in their fight at UFC 205.
More importantly, ‘The Notorious’ had traditionally dealt well with shorter wrestling-based fighters like Nurmagomedov. He’d knocked out both Chad Mendes and Eddie Alvarez, dispatching the latter with stunning ease. In fact, at the time, McGregor’s only loss in the UFC had come to Nate Diaz, an entirely different fighter to Khabib.
In hindsight, it seems ridiculous that anyone could pick against Khabib. However, realistically, that’s only because of the way he dealt with Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje in fights that came after UFC 229.
In October 2018, though? Few fighters were more feared inside the octagon than Conor McGregor. To many fans, Khabib Nurmagomedov was not one of them.
