Khabib Nurmagomedov gifted $20 million in land by Vladimir Putin after Conor McGregor win, claims Dana White

Khabib Nurmagomedov made a ridiculous amount of money when he came face-to-face with Conor McGregor back in 2018. Though, according to Dana White, Vladimir Putin gave Khabib an extra incentive to beat the Irishman.

Being two of the biggest names in the sport, Khabib and McGregor understandably combined for the highest pay-per-view buys in UFC history. Headlining UFC 229, the lightweights allegedly sold 2.4 million PPV buys, which trumps the 1.6 million of the second-highest MMA event.

During an appearance on the Games with Names podcast, Dana White opened up on the past feud between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“That was a big one for us,” White said. “A ton of animosity between those two going in. A ton of animosity between Khabib and Conor’s cornermen. It was crazy”

“Their rise, it was at the same time. The problem that you’re talking about when you say they were boys, they were never really boys. You’re dealing with two hardcore alpha males.”

“These guys are both killers. They both want to be the best, they both want to win, and they’re both willing to fight anybody and do anything to be the best. When you get those two types of guys, there is no being buddies. Those two were on a collision course before they even knew they were.”

Related: Conor McGregor calls out Nurmagomedov family for steroid use

Dana White continued, insisting that Khabib Nurmagomedov received a handsome reward from Vladimir Putin after his win over Conor McGregor.

“He became this huge mega-star in the Muslim world. So, after he beat Conor McGregor, he went on this tour of all the Muslim countries.”

“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 like $20 million worth of property in Russia.”

Listen to everything Dana White had to say in the podcast below.