Khabib, Conor, and silliness

As the fight world knows, a few days ago Khabib Nurmagamedov and Conor McGregor squared off for the lightweight mixed martial arts title. Sane people know that anybody that anybody that gets into the octagon for a "no-holds barred" gladiatorial fight to the finish likely isn't wrapped too tight to begin with. In other words, these guys, and gals, are nuts.

So bizarre behavior should come as no great surprise. Yet there are still "rules" that aren't supposed to be crossed. One is for a contestant to initiate a fight anywhere but inside the octagon. And that's exactly what Khabib did after forcing McGregor to tap out in the fourth round of their fight. It appeared he went even further off the deep end. Meanwhile, McGregor threw a punch at a non-combatant, and he in turn was ambushed from behind by an apparent spectator who had jumped over the cage and into the ring.

The Nevada commission in charge of overseeing these spectacles was on the spot. What do they do about it?

And that's where it got downright silly. OK, we get it that they withheld Khabib's $2,000,000 purse -- for a short while -- before releasing it. So what was the point? McGregor was paid.

And then.....

Boom, they suspended Khabib for....

Ten days?

What, pray tell, manner of nonsense was this?

After a fight, the combatants aren't doing anything for ten days, or likely even a few months, anyway except healing up from the pounding they took, win or lose.

Suspending a MMA fighter in such a manner would be akin to suspending a Major League baseball player for the same amount of time -- in December. They're not doing anything either.

So again, what's the point?

Oh sure, they'll make noise about holding a hearing somewhere down the road in a month or two. Thing is, any such hearing could and should be held immediately. They have all the video they need to analyze whatever happened. And a month or two from now, nobody will care anyway.

Does anybody seriously think the powers that be will take either or both of these guys out of the arena of combat for any amount of time that would prevent them from fighting? Hah.

Not likely. Why? Because of the same reason these spectacles have always been held. Money. Lots of it.

Millions and millions of dollars pour in from the pay-per-view outlets. This one was $65 a pop. Multiply that by ten, twenty, or however many million people chose to tune in, and you're talking serious dough.

And you just know a re-match between these two guys is in the works. The folks that rake in the dough aren't about to shoot themselves in the foot by "grounding" Khabib and/or McGregor that might prevent another windfall in the future, deserved or not.

Who's kidding who?