Why UFC Refunded Daniel Cormier And His Family For UFC 229 Tickets

In the melee that followed Khabib Nurmagomedov's win over Conor McGregor at UFC 229, a courageous Daniel Cormier rushed into the octagon to try and diffuse the situation.

Cormier went on to calm Khabib down during the incident and has since revealed that UFC president Dana White called him and refunded front row rickets he bought for him and his family.

In the call, White explained how thankful he was to Cormier for calming him down when tempers were high.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani's MMA Show, Cormier said the following about the incident:

"I buy tickets. I buy tickets for my kids to go to the fights. We were given tickets and I buy tickets and then the whole fight happens,

"And then Dana calls me and says, 'We are giving you your money back because you helped us calm everybody down. We can't charge you for tickets."

The number one pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC went on to explain what he said to Nurmagomedov in the heat of battle:

"I was trying to go up to talk to him and they kept pushing me. But, he kept telling them, 'This is my captain, let him through." Cormier explained.

So when I finally got close enough to him I told him, 'Hey, what in the world is going on? What are you doing? You have got to calm down,"

What you might not know is that Irish fan David Martin got in the octagon himself to make sure that McGregor was okay.

Speaking to USA Today Martin explained his actions:

"I wouldn't say adrenaline took over, I'd say patriotism took over first. I thought Russia was attacking Ireland. I thought a bunch of Russians were jumping in and this guy (McGregor) was tired and beaten down from the fight and was being attacked by what I thought were a bunch of Russian fans.

"I needed to step in. I was thinking my country was calling for me right now and I'm going in.

"Conor was about to get attacked. I put my hands on top of Daniel [Cormier] to leapfrog him because he's not that tall.

"I leaped over him and saw the door (to the Octagon) open and I wanted to get in there and protect my countryman. I thought there were all Russian guys in there and I wasn't having that."

Topics: Conor Mcgregor, Daniel Cormier, UFC

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_