If you have been anywhere near the internet today, you probably have come across one major news story that is circling.. And it involves none other than Conor McGregor.
However, “Mystic Mac’ isn’t in headlines because of a fight announcement as many of us would hope, the soon to be former Lightweight Champion made the news for all the wrong reasons. In what Dana White would deem “the most disgusting thing that has ever happened in the UFC”, McGregor launched an all out assault on a van carrying fighters that are due to appear on this weekend’s UFC 223 card.
This attack is assumed to be directed towards the one and only Khabib Nurmagomedov, who McGregor’s name has been very closely associated with ever since he captured the Lightweight Championship from Eddie Alvarez. Earlier this week, there was an altercation of sorts between Khabib and one of McGregor’s close friends, Artem Lobov, which many believe might have lead to the events that transpired today.
McGregor and company came to the Barclays Center following a UFC 223 Media Day looking for a chance to retaliate on Khabib himself. When it was apparent that Khabib was already in the van carrying the fighters from the event, McGregor took it upon himself to focus the attack on the van. McGregor began throwing everything he could at the van, even attempting to do some damage with a gate.
During the barrage of objects being launched at the van, a window was shattered that caused one of the fighters on the van, Michael Chiesa, to be hospitalized with lacerations. Chiesa has since left the hospital, but his fight with former Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis is off at the time of this writing. A card plagued with the injury bug already, now loses another huge fight in the Lightweight division that definitely could have been avoided. It is important to note that all of these fighters are in the midst of the hardest part of fight week, the weight cut, so it’ll be interesting to see if today’s actions have any effect on them as well.
After the chaos subsided, Dana White held an impromptu press conference to express the disdain for the events that had happened. White said that due to his involvement, Artem Lobov would be taken off the UFC 223 card, which only seems to be the tip of the iceberg as far as punishments go. McGregor, who White stated earlier this week was already on borrowed time with his status as Lightweight Champion, may face the majority of today’s ramifications. White said that Conor made a huge mistake today that may be put him at the wrong side of many lawsuits and that McGregor might even be looking at some jail time.
The attacks intended target doesn’t seem the least bit phased as he prepares to step in the octagon in two days to fight Max Holloway for the Lightweight Championship. Khabib found the incident laughable, and actually preferred that McGregor not be punished as it may prevent Nurmagomedov from getting a chance to fight the Irishman in the future. If anything Khabib seems to be more focused on setting up a fight with McGregor sooner now than later.
Today’s events will undoubtedly have more fallout as the next few days and weeks pass. The question is, are we witnessing the fall of Conor McGregor? We will continue to cover UFC 223 news as it happens. At time of this writing, UFC 223 has lost a total of 3 fights as a result of McGregor’s actions. Michael Chiesa, as noted earlier is out of his fight with Anthony Pettis due to injury. Ray Borg, who many will remember from his fight with Demetrious Johnson, is out of his fight with Brandon Moreno as a result of an eye injury, likely due to the glass shattering. The 3rd fight was the fight that Artem Lobov was pulled from against Alex Caceres, due to Lobov’s involvement in today’s incident.
Earlier this evening Conor McGregor turned himself into the NYPD. McGregor was taken into custody and arrested at 10:20 pm ET. and will be facing multiple charges in related to the events of today.
What do you think about the news surrounding McGregor and UFC 223? How do you think the UFC will react to the former Featherweight Champion? Leave your comments below and be sure to follow us as we cover UFC 223 this weekend.