Stone Cold Steve Austin Says Khabib 'Missed His Moment' At UFC 229

Stone Cold Steve Austin is no stranger to raising hell whether he was in or out of the squared circle. So naturally the former WWE champion enjoyed the madness that ensued after Khabib Nurmagomedov tapped out Conor McGregor at UFC 229 over the weekend.

In the months leading up to the fight, McGregor was arrested after an attack on Khabib’s bus after an alleged assault on McGregor’s trainer. McGregor took things a step further by calling Nurmagomedov’s manager a “terrorist rat.” All of the terrible things that happened in the fight’s buildup boiled over after the bout, when the champ threw his mouthpiece at McGregor’s corner before all hell broke loose, and Khabib attacked Conor’s team outside the Octagon and members of Nurmagomedov’s entourage hopped into the cage to attack McGregor.

Discussing the matter on The Steve Austin Show, the WWE Hall of Famer refuted notions that the all-out brawl was a “black eye on the UFC,” and instead chalked it up as an event where the unexpected could happen at any time.

“Obviously, Khabib jumped over the cage. That’s on him, but it doesn’t make me think any less of the UFC. I was highly entertained by it,” Austin said. “As a fan, I want to see stuff that entertains me and that entertained me. The bad thing is the kid didn’t get a chance to do an interview with Joe Rogan and get presented his title belt. At 27-0, he should’ve earned the opportunity to receive that belt, get it placed around his waist by Dana White, but like Dana White said, he goes, ‘man, I can’t put this belt on you right here in the ring. It’s going to cause a riot. And it probably would have. But, nonetheless, the kid missed his moment.'”

That moment is big for any champion, Austin said, but the biggest factor in his mind is that the post-fight scuffle was also entertaining for fans.

“Like I said, he kind of went into business for himself, shot an angle, worked himself into a shoot, and we’ll see what kind of fines they hand down to him, but I was entertained,” he continued. “It was cool. Too bad the kid did not get his moment. That’s the way it goes. But we’ll see how they spin out of this and use this to draw and to a super fight between round two of Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. So anyway, I was entertained by it, but it sure did look like a damn angle straight out of pro wrestling book. I’ll just leave it at that. It was an interesting night for the UFC. I got my $60 worth.”

The NSAC has filed complaints against both McGregor and Nurmagomedov for their individual roles in the post-fight altercation, which could result in the champion being stripped of his UFC lightweight crown. That would make hte whole thing significantly less fun for everyone involved. But if Nurmagomedov is suspended, he may just be receptive to working another angle, just this time where it belongs — in WWE.