LAS VEGAS — Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his violent actions after beating Conor McGregor at UFC 229 and said that Russian president Vladimir Putin was "proud" of him — despite the way he escalated an ugly melee at T-Mobile Arena.

Nurmagomedov made a brief media statement following his fourth-round submission victory over McGregor and the wild fracas that followed, yet was largely unrepentant.

"First of all I want to say sorry to Nevada Athletic Commission," Nurmagomedov, now 27-0 and still the UFC lightweight champion, told reporters. "This is not my best side.

"But (McGregor) talked about my religion, he talks about my father. Why people talk about (how) I (jumped) on the cage? He came to Brooklyn and almost killed a couple of people."

Those remarks referred to the way Nurmagomedov leaped out of the octagon to brawl with members of McGregor’s team moments after McGregor had tapped out to a rear naked choke — and also the infamous attack launched by the Irishman on a bus carrying Nurmagomedov in Brooklyn in April.

The commission withheld Nurmagomedov's $2 million fight check on Saturday night, pending an investigation.

McGregor also launched a series of vitriolic verbal attacks on the Russian during the build-up to the fight, making incendiary comments about his family, his Muslim faith and the Dagestan region of his homeland.

"They call him two-weight world champion, but today he tapped," Nurmagomedov added. "This is (a) respect sport, this is not trash-talking sport. I want to change this game. I don’t want people talk (expletive) about opponents. About fathers, about religion. You can’t talk about religion and nation. For me this is very important."

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"He (McGregor) needed to leave religion, family and politics out of conversations," Nurmagomedov's coach Javier Mendez told USA TODAY Sports’ A.J. Perez. "Having (McGregor teammate) Dillon (Danis) talk crap to him didn’t help the situation."

During soccer’s FIFA World Cup during the summer, McGregor was photographed as a guest of Russian political leader Putin, in an executive suite. Nurmagomedov was also at the tournament, but had to make do with a regular seat in the stands.

"I am very proud," Nurmedomedov said. "(McGregor) take pictures with Putin. (Putin) just called me and told me he is very proud of me."

Follow Martin Rogers on Twitter @RogersJourno.

Contributing: A.J. Perez.