Khabib Nurmagomedov still seems to harbour regret over his infamous cage jump incident on the night he beat Conor McGregor in 2018.
The Russian had his crowning moment in the octagon at UFC 229 when he dominated and submitted his long-time brash rival to finally cement himself as the undisputed lightweight champion. The event was a huge hit at the box office, attracting two million payi-per-view buys to become the highest grossing event in the sport's history.
But a dark cloud hung over the bout from the build-up, and continued after McGregor had submitted and Nurmagomedov had won the war. The pair's rivalry was deeply personal, and at one point the Irishman had gotten so aggressive that he attacked a bus on which his rival was travelling, resulting in a night in jail for the UFC legend.
And after the bout, Nurmagomedov jumped from the octagon to attack McGregor's cornerman and close friend Dillon Danis. A melee ensued after the fact, and despite being arguably the Russian's greatest career moment, he chooses to not often talk about the event.
He even views it as his most notable achievement, despite not often liking to reflect on the evening. “It was here, this [T-Mobile] Arena. October 6, 2018. The biggest fight in MMA history,” he told MMAFighting when asked about it before his Hall of Fame induction. “I’m very happy I won this fight. I can’t lose of any of my fights, but no way [could I lose] this fight.”
And speaking with his friend and long-time teammate Daniel Cormier, who was also being inducted, he expanded on why he felt so ashamed that night. “Already all world was watching this fight," he said during an appearance on his friend's ESPN show. "People wanted to talk about something like when they want to promote this. Like this fight become like bigger than, bigger than our sport, bigger than… Like all the time talking about this, I don’t like to be honest.
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"But this is like one of the best moment ever happened in my professional career. 2018 October 6… I remember every day, almost everything, almost and it’s like people, people never talk about one thing. People never talk about when I jump, with me jumped all the sport.”
Nurmagomedov went on to cement his legacy with dominating wins over interim champions Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje before hanging up the gloves in 2020. He was almost immediately inducted into the Hall of Fame by the promotion, and is revered as one of the sport's greats.
Meanwhile, McGregor still competes, although he is currently out of action with a broken leg. His bout with the Russian was his first after a massive crossover event against Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring the previous summer. But he has struggled to maintain his dynamism in the octagon since returning. Coronavirus shutdowns and injuries have cost him a number of his prime years and he is 1-3 since his boxing secondment.