UFC champion Conor McGregor is in police custody, hours after he was filmed committing an attack on other mixed martial arts fighters in Brooklyn Thursday.
According to the New York Daily News, McGregor may be charged with assault after turning himself in to the 78th Precinct in Brooklyn Thursday night. And NBC 4 in New York reports that McGregor will face a judge on Friday morning.
Earlier in the day, McGregor and an entourage rushed into a non-public area of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, and began throwing objects at a bus carrying several other MMA fighters who are set to duke it out Saturday at UFC 223. The fighters had just finished a pre-fight press conference.
Part of the melee was captured on video and widely shared on social media soon after. In the clip, someone can be seen throwing a chair into a window. Another person, believed to be McGregor himself, was restrained while apparently attempting to do the same thing. Other people threw smaller objects at the bus.
yoooooo… first time seeing this one. Conor has legit lost his mind. pic.twitter.com/XcLFd2FIMo
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) April 5, 2018
MMA fighter Michael Chiesa sustained injuries to his face in the fracas, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. Chiesa was scheduled to fight former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis during the pay-per-view event, but has since confirmed that his fight with Pettis has been canceled.
A decision was made by the New York State Athletic Commission to pull me from UFC 223. I’m devastated to say the least. @Showtimepettis I hope to run this match up ASAP, June 9th in your backyard. That’s all I have to say for now. Much love.
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) April 6, 2018
Also injured was fighter Ray Borg, who took a shard of glass to one of his eyes, according to sources cited by UFC news site MMA Junkie. His scheduled fight with Brandon Moreno has also been canceled. In addition, UFC yanked McGregor’s teammate, Arteem Lobov, from his bout with Alex Caceres.
McGregor’s motives for the rampage are unknown, but he has publicly raged about UFC’s decision to to strip him of his belt and give it to the winner of a fight between Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov on Saturday. And early Thursday morning, McGregor tweeted “You’s’ll strip me of nothing you’s do nothing c—s.”
At issue is McGregor’s refusal to defend his lightweight championship title since winning the belt in 2016. He has demanded a higher payout to return to the octagon than UFC has been willing to offer.
