Conor McGregor responded to UFC President Dana White’s decision to strip him of his lightweight belt in typically understated fashion: by tweeting an unprintable insult, crashing a pre-fight press event, chucking a barricade and prompting a scene of general mayhem that left at least one fighter injured and organizers stunned. For his trouble, McGregor appears to be in some.
Citing “law enforcement sources,” News 4 in New York reports McGregor was arrested and is expected to be charged with assault after his role in Thursday’s fracas that left UFC fighter Michael Chiesa in the hospital with a facial laceration.
White told multiple outlets after the episode Thursday afternoon that a warrant is out for McGregor’s arrest, but both ABC News and SB Nation’s Marc Raimondi reported that there was no warrant, citing the New York Police Department.
White also said that Michael Chiesa, who was scheduled to fight in Saturday’s card, had been cut in the face and was in the hospital, and that Artem Lobov, a McGregor ally who was apparently part of the incident, would be pulled from the card.
In truth, it was unclear whether Thursday’s incident was prompted by White stripping McGregor of his belt, or by previous bad feelings between McGregor’s camp and Khabib Nurmagomedov, scheduled to fight for McGregor’s belt in Saturday’s main event. Nurmagomedov was filmed in a confrontation with Lobov, the McGregor ally, earlier this week.
On Thursday, McGregor and his entourage approached a large vehicle full of fighters that was leaving Barclays Center in Brooklyn after the press event, according to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani and videos posted of the incident. “Chairs were thrown through the van window and one passenger on the van was injured,” Helwani reported, in an apparent reference to Chiesa.
Videos posted to social media show a chaotic scene, with at least one guardrail being flung and general disorder.
“Conor went bananas and put a beating on the van that we were in,” Chiesa’s coach Rick Little told MMAjunkie. “A million security guards had to restrain him. Mike’s cut up now. He’s got marks on him, for sure. I don’t think too serious. Everything happened so fast, it was just like we got jumped.”
Little told the site that his fighter had been cut by shattered glass. And some media members at the arena reported that the target of McGregor’s ire was apparently Nurmagomedov, who seemed to believe that was the case.
“I am laughing inside,” the Russian told Helwani. “You broke window? Why? Come inside. If you real gangster why don’t you come inside? This is big history gangster place. Brooklyn. You want to talk to me? Send me location. I am going to come. No problem.”
White, meanwhile, called the incident the most despicable thing in UFC history, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
“You want to grab 30 [expletive] friends and come down here and do what you did today?” White said in a video posted by Okamoto. “It’s disgusting. And I don’t think anybody is going to be huge Conor McGregor fans after this. I don’t know if he’s on drugs or what his deal is, but to come and do this and act like this?”
Later Thursday night, the UFC issued a statement regarding the incident:
“During today’s media event at Barclays Center to promote UFC 223: Khabib vs. Holloway, Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov entered the building accompanied by over a dozen individuals.
The group, which included McGregor and Lobov, vandalized the vehicle that contained a number of athletes competing at the event taking place this weekend. NYPD was immediately alerted and is currently in the process of investigating the situation. UFC is working very closely with the New York Athletic Commission, Barclays Center security and law enforcement authorities. All parties are working together to ensure the highest standard of proper safety precautions are implemented to protect the fans and athletes.
The organization deems today’s disruption completely unacceptable and is currently working on the consequences that will follow. Immediately, Lobov has been removed from this weekend’s card and individuals involved in the incident are not welcome at tomorrow’s ceremonial weigh-in or Saturday’s event at Barclays Center.”
Further, per Okamoto, two bouts scheduled for Saturday’s card have now been scrapped.
White’s anger toward longtime UFC moneymaker McGregor seemed genuine, but others quickly pointed out that a McGregor-Nurmagomedov fight might be more lucrative after Thursday’s drama. Daniel Cormier, one of the sport’s stars, tweeted that McGregor should be taken into custody and escorted to the arena Saturday “to make him fight Khabib … That’s true punishment!”
White had announced earlier this week there would be “no interim champ” following Saturday’s scheduled lightweight main event between Max Holloway and Nurmagomedov.
“When this fight is over, champion,” White said at a news conference, gesturing to Nurmagomedov and Holloway. “One of these guys will be the champion.”
This news was not taken well by McGregor, the previous permanent holder of that title.
“You’s’ll strip me of nothing,” he tweeted very early Thursday morning, before calling UFC officials an unprintable word.
McGregor won the lightweight title by defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in a November 2016 bout but stepped away from the octagon to train for last year’s lucrative boxing match against Floyd Mayweather. Ferguson stepped in to win an interim lightweight belt in McGregor’s absence, but White said Saturday’s bout between Nurmagomedov and Holloway will decide a new official champion.
“Tony Ferguson isn’t being stripped. The only person here who is losing a belt is Conor. Conor’s losing the belt, these two are fighting for the belt,” White said at the news conference.
“The interim belt that he had, those two [Nurmagomedov and Ferguson] were supposed to fight — doesn’t happen. One of these guys will be the champion. Tony is still the number one contender.”
White insisted that McGregor “is coming back this year, 100 percent,” adding, “We’ll see how this thing plays out [with the lightweight title], and we’ll go from there.”
White later reiterated that stance on Fox Sports’ “UFC Tonight,” saying: “Conor does want to fight. Conor and I have been talking a lot. Conor does want to come back, he does want to fight, so he will fight this year.”
“Brock Lesnar’s coming back,” White said. “I don’t know when, but yes, he is.”
Lesnar has not fought for White’s company since the infamous UFC 200 in July 2016, when he defeated Mark Hunt but later failed a pair of drug tests, leading to a lawsuit from Hunt. McGregor was supposed to have headlined that card, in a rematch with Nate Diaz, but White pulled the fight after the Irishman refused to break training for some promotional appearances.
A former UFC heavyweight champion and a major box-office draw, Lesnar had retired from MMA in 2011 and has been a pro-wrestling star with the WWE. Having retired again from MMA in February 2017, just weeks after receiving one-year bans from both the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Lesnar presumably would have to serve the remainder of his suspensions before being cleared to compete again for the UFC.
The contract between the 40-year-old Lesnar and the WWE is set to expire shortly after Sunday’s WrestleMania 34, at which he will take on Roman Reigns, and his recent flirtations with White have been viewed by some as simply attempts to gain leverage with the pro wrestling company. According to noted MMA reporter Helwani, though, a “deal is in place” with the UFC and both sides just need to “finalize” it.
With the departure of Ronda Rousey, the inability of Jones to stay clean and McGregor’s lengthy absence, the UFC has lacked major star power over the past year and a half or so, although Georges St-Pierre’s long-awaited comeback has helped. The possible returns of McGregor — especially if he can be matched up with St-Pierre — and Lesnar could be just what the doctor ordered for White and Co., but MMA fans will be forgiven for preferring to believe it when they see it.