UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Nate Diaz got into an apparent scuffle that also looked to have involved friends of the fighters near the end of the UFC 239 preliminary card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
My buddy who is there sent me this. pic.twitter.com/Tu390X194s
— Brian Trumps (@BTrumps) July 7, 2019
It’s not much..but security already got in the middle between Khabib and his friends (left side) and Nate Diaz (right side). #UFC239 pic.twitter.com/BjxrrXtkbT
— Farzin Vousoughian (@Farzin21) July 7, 2019
Security intervened and Nurmagomedov and Diaz were separated and moved to different parts of the venue.
Diaz, who was at the event in support of friend and training partner Gilbert Melendez, wound up leaving the arena shorty thereafter.
Nate Diaz is outta here. #UFC239 pic.twitter.com/zUd5wHtja4
— Farzin Vousoughian (@Farzin21) July 7, 2019
During the UFC 239 post-fight press conference, Dana White confirmed the altercation with reporters.
"Yeah, they got into a fight - Khabib and Diaz," White said, adding that it was just a "verbal" confrontation. "Talking s- to each other back and forth and everybody broke it up. We moved Diaz and then Diaz left after the Melendez fight."
This isn't the first time Nurmagomedov and Diaz got into an incident with one another.
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Back in August 2015 during a World Series of Fighting event that also happened to be in Las Vegas, they brawled inside the crowd and were escorted out of the arena.
Nurmagomedov was in town for a press conference on Friday to promote his unification title bout with Dustin Poirier at UFC 242. He last fought at UFC 229 last October, when he submitted Conor McGregor in the fourth round. When the fight concluded, a near riot ensued between both fight camps. Nurmagomedov got suspended nine months for his role in the melee.
Meanwhile, Diaz will return to the Octagon for the first time in nearly three years at UFC 241 in August when he takes on Anthony Pettis. The native of Stockton, Calif. upset McGregor at UFC 196 in March 2016, but lost the rematch at UFC 202 in August 2016.
