Khabib calmed Abdelaziz down during McGregor’s bus attack: Relax, real gangsters don’t bring cameras

Bloodyelbow.com

Unexpected chaos ensued during the UFC 223 fight week in April 2018 when Conor McGregor and a bunch of his comrades attacked a fighters’ bus. At the time, “The Notorious” was going after Khabib Nurmagomedov, who had a rift with SBG Dublin teammate Artem Lobov a few days prior.

The incident caused multiple fighter cancellations and left then strawweight champion Rose Namajunas greatly traumatized. However, Khabib apparently remained completely composed, according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz.

“The first thing I wanted to do, I want to jump out the bus. And Khabib was sitting, smiling,” Abdelaziz said during his guesting on the “Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast (transcript via MMA Junkie). “I was so angry, because I felt like we were getting ambushed by like 20, 30 guys. I want to jump out the bus, but Ilir Latifi grabbed me. He’s a light heavyweight. I really wanted to get out the bus, because I don’t like to be in a box while people trying to kill you. You understand?

“And Khabib said, ‘Hey, relax. If gangsters come, they don’t bring video cameras,’” he continued. “Because when Conor come, he brought all his crony little dudes, but they have video cameras. (Khabib) said, ‘Real gangsters don’t bring video cameras.’ He was sitting. He didn’t get up. Khabib was smiling. When all this stuff was going on, he didn’t get up.”

The said incident is believed to be one of the precursors for the UFC 229 post-fight brawl that took place six months later, which led to multiple fines and suspensions on both McGregor, Khabib and their teams.

Khabib and his team recently received reduced suspensions, and is expected to unify the 155-pound titles against interim champion Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 on September 7^th in Abu Dhabi.