SUMMARY
- UFC 229 Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor remains the highest-selling MMA pay-per-view event of all time.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin gifted Khabib and his father over $20 million worth of property in Russia.
UFC 229 remains the biggest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) PPV of all time! The event took place in October 2018 and yet nearly 6 years later, no MMA event has been able to beat its records. With a reported 2.4 million PPV buyrate, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor is the highest-selling MMA PPV of all time. However, it was not just not profitable for the UFC, as it turns out, it was quite lucrative for Nurmagomedov as well!
Over 20,000 fans attended the event and it generated a reported $17.2 million gate revenue. As per reports, the winner and the lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov earned $6,640,000 for the bout, while McGregor walked away with a massive $50,000,000 fight purse. While it sounds like a very low amount in comparison with his competitor, Nurmagomedov received almost triple the amount of his fight purse from Vladimir Putin.
Dana White reveals Vladimir Putin gifted Khabib Nurmagomedov over $20 million
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s fortune changed after submitting Conor McGregor via neck crank in the fourth round of UFC 229. While “The Notorious One” was able to snatch one round from the Dagestani fighter, “The Eagle” ultimately won the fight in a decisive way and turned him into a giant superstar. With that, came a lot of financial opportunities as well! Recently, UFC President Dana White made a major revelation about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s gesture for Khabib.
Speaking on a podcast, White added, “I mean, he didn’t even make it back to his dressing room after the fight and Putin was on the phone. And Putin gave him and his father $20 million worth of property in Russia.”
After returning to Russia, Putin also met the fighter to congratulate the fighter on the biggest win of his career up until that point. However, not just from Putin, the 54-year-old also added that Khabib Nurmagomedov received a lot of money from territories in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Turkey where they “rained” money, cars, gyms, and other luxury items on the now-retired lightweight GOAT.
White has also speculated that both McGregor and Nurmagomedov have earned so much money that the urge to get punched for a living may not be there.
When is Khabib Nurmagomedov’s UFC documentary releasing?
Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time and there is no argument for that. While Dana White considers Jon Jones to be UFC GOAT, the UFC President certainly recognizes the star power that “The Eagle” has. Hence, the company is collaborating with the fighter to release a documentary about him. While the project has been in the works for quite some time, any official release date is yet to be announced.
However, in August 2023, Nurmagomedov did provide a big update on the potential timeline for the release. In an Instagram post, he added, “The documentary will be released in Summer 2024, Inshallah.”
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The project was made public in August 2023 when the former UFC lightweight champion was having a conversation with Dana White. Khabib added that White sent 25 cameras to capture footage from Khabib for the documentary. The 35-year-old also added that he was hard at work for the documentary and hoped to produce a good product for the fans to enjoy. However, since then no further details have been made public.
