Conor McGregor has chosen not to defend his UFC lightweight championship for the last 18 months, forcing the hand of company President Dana White to award the title to the winner of the upcoming fight between Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
McGregor responded in the only logical way possible: by crashing the press conference for the fight and throwing a steel divider at a wall.
Videos by PopCulture.com
In the video below — courtesy of the Twitter account of MMA reporter Chamatkar Sandhu — it is pretty clear that McGregor is in the middle of a temper tantrum the likes of which the most marked WWE fans would appreciate.
Conor McGregor. Picks up guard rail. Attempts to throw it at bus. ABSOLUTE CHAOS IN NEW YORK. #UFC223 (Via Felice Herrig’s IG story) pic.twitter.com/JYQZD7jtKP
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) April 5, 2018
In the subsequent reporting by Sandhu on MMAJunkie.com, a fighter by the name Michael Chiesa was hurt, suffering a laceration of his head.
Rick Little, who is the coach for Chiesa, told the site that he was cut from shattered glass that shattered during McGregor’s outburst.
“Conor went bananas and put a beating on the van that we were in looking for Khabib,” Little told Sandhu. “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.”
Following his throwing of a garbage can and storming up a ramp making a scene, McGregor and his entourage left the scene but were apparently pursued by police, according to reports from the arena.
Ariel Helwani — another MMA reporter — posted on his Twitter account that Conor was trying to get Nurmagomedov out of his van and that White was now involved by cooperating with authorities.
I’ve seen video shot by fighters in the van. Very clear Conor is telling someone to get out of the van before being pulled away by security. Khabib and his team were in that particular van.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2018
McGregor does not have a fight on this card — and hasn’t fought in the MMA since winning the title in 2016 — but is suspected to have been at the arena to show support for his fellow SGB Ireland teammate, Artrem Lobov, who is fighting Alex Caceres on the card.
UFC 223 will air on pay-per-view from the Barclays Center this weekend; it is set to follow undercard fights that will be featured on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Related Posts
-
MIAMI, FL – JUNE 9: Connor McGregor and Mascot Burnie of the Miami Heat perform during halftime against the Denver Nuggets during Game Four of the 2023 NBA Finals on June 9, 2023 at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
