Yesterday, the biggest sporting event in the world concluded when France took on Croatia in the FIFA World Cup Final in Moscow, Russia. Somewhere north of 1 billion people worldwide tuned in to watch the game and some 80,000 fans packed Luzhniki Stadium to watch who would earn global bragging rights over the next four years. And among those 80,000 fans were two of the premier fighters in MMA today, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champion Conor McGregor.

On their respective social media accounts, Nurmagomedov and McGregor posted pictures of themselves at the game. Nurmagomedov also posted his support of France and French midfielder Paul Pogba, which was clearly helpful as France ended up winning 4-2, with Pogba scoring the winning goal.

Tickets to the game were pricey, reaching as his as $105,000 on resale for Category 1 seats (the highest tier). For what it’s worth, it appears that Nurmagomedov’s seats (apparent on his Instagram story) were Category 2 seats while McGregor’s were Category 1.

Aside from having the better seats though, McGregor also took the opportunity to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin who was in attendance.

McGregor’s own media site, The Mac Life, also posted a video of him meeting with Putin, telling the world leader that he had a gift for him but security wouldn’t allow him to bring it to the venue.

In the video, McGregor also happily pronounces “Yes, let’s do it!” which is sure to fuel speculation as “Notorious” has previously mentioned wanting to fight Nurmagomedov in Russia.

Also, if you were wondering, McGregor’s friend and training partner, Russian national Artem Lobov was in attendance as well.

The last time McGregor, Nurmagomedov, and Lobov were in the same place, things did not end so well for McGregor and Lobov. Fortunately, there were no truck dollies around this time.

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MUST-READ STORIES

Boise. Junior dos Santos rolls by Blagoy Ivanov by unanimous decision at UFC Boise.

202. Julia Budd retains featherweight title with stoppage of Talita Nogueira at Bellator 202.

203: Patricio Freire retains title with split decision over Daniel Weichel at Bellator 203.

Trilogy. Junior dos Santos says Stipe Miocic trilogy fight would be ‘very welcome.’

Heavyweight. Alexander Gustafsson: Daniel Cormier is ‘better at heavyweight.’

Title shot. ‘Shogun’ Rua believes he deserves shot at Daniel Cormier after Anthony Smith fight.

Surgery. Eduardo Dantas to undergo surgery for fractured leg on Monday.

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VIDEO STEW

Free fight.

Bellator 202 highlights.

A great interview with DC about his career.

Stoked.

Moving all the way up.

TTTHS.

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LISTEN UP

6th Round. Immediate post-fight reaction to UFC Boise.

Middle Easy Fist Fight. Discussing the returns of Brock Lesnar and Chuck Liddell.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Pretty gangster.

Call out.

Yoel clapping back.

Staying relevant.

JBJ trying to stay busy.

Picking fights.

The best idea.

DC always supporting winners.

This is new.

Who doesn’t love Cheetohs?

Good guy.

Good point.

Ouch.

Submission of the year.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Joanne Calderwood (11-3) vs. Kalindra Faria (18-7-1); UFC Lincoln, Aug. 25.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

1999: Pat Miletich defended his welterweight title against Andre Pederneiras with a second round TKO at UFC 21.

2014: Donald Cerrone knocked out Jim Miller with a head kick at UFC Fight Night 45.

2016: Michael Page went viral for breaking Evangelista Santos’ skull and then throwing a pokeball at him.

2017: Santiago Ponzinibbio knocked out Gunnar Nelson at UFC Fight Night 113.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I didn’t want to post this with the lead because I’m not 100% on it but I believe this is Khabib taking a shot at Conor’s visit with Putin and suggesting that Conor paid to be there.

Also, with the FIFA World Cup officially over, take a look back at the MMA World Cup and Brazil’s run of dominance.

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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