Khabib Nurmagomedov apologised for instigating a brawl following his stunning defeat of Conor McGregor at UFC 229.McGregor’s mixed martial arts return after a near two-year hiatus fell flat as he tapped out midway through the fourth round, but Nurmagomedov soured a career-best performance with his actions immediately afterwards.The Russian, whose victory meant he retained his lightweight title, threw his gumshield, vaulted the cage and attacked someone from McGregor’s camp.While that was happening, McGregor was set upon and attacked by at least two men who entered the cage as the bad blood between the camps came to a head.Nurmagomedov expressed his regret at what had unfolded, but showed his disdain for McGregor’s behaviour leading up to the fight, including the notorious bus attack in April that left several rival fighters injured.The 30-year-old said: “First of all I want to say sorry to Nevada Athletic Commission and second to Vegas. I know this is not my best side. I’m a human being.“But I don’t understand how people can talk about how I jump on the cage. He talked about my religion, he talked about my country, he talked about my father.“He came to Brooklyn and he broke a bus, he almost killed a couple of people. What about this s***? Why do people talk about me jumping over the cage? I don’t understand.“This is a respectful sport, not a trash-talking sport. I want to change the game, you cannot talk about religion, about nationality.”

An event which was billed as the biggest in the UFC’s history had an unsavoury end, and company president Dana White appeared shell-shocked by what had happened.

He revealed Nurmagomedov’s fight purse was being held back by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and that three potential members of the fighter’s camp had been arrested.

However, White said that because McGregor did not want to take the matter further, the trio were later released.

White said: “The Nevada State Athletic Commission pulled the footage from us and there’s an investigation going on.

“They are withholding Khabib’s purse but not Conor’s. They looked at the footage and felt there was no need to withhold Conor’s.

“The way it works is Conor is one of the guys attacked, Conor refused to press charges. The guys they had they released.

“There were three guys from Khabib’s team arrested, I think they were from Khabib’s team, I don’t know.”