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Conor McGregor Of UFC Arrested For Barclays Center Rampage On MMA Fighters
At a UFC media event in Brooklyn, the fighter attacked a bus carrying his rival, injuring another competitor.
MMA star Conor McGregor started a brawl in the wrong place — and ended up in handcuffs.
McGregor was arrested Thursday on assault and criminal mischief charges for a violent rampage inside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Numerous eyewitnesses, including some who captured the incident on video, watched McGregor attempt to throw a metal barricade at a bus carrying other MMA competitors leaving the arena. He also threw an object that broke one of the bus’s windows and the shattered glass left a fellow fighter with injuries that will keep him out of an upcoming match.
Police quickly issued a warrant for McGregor’s arrest and he was taken into custody Thursday, according to WNBC. On Friday, he was seen leaving the police station in handcuffs en route to his arraignment.
McGregor, along with an entourage of nearly 20 others, had shown up uninvited to the UFC 223 press conference Thursday afternoon. Inside the arena, McGregor tracked down and targeted a bus carrying his UFC rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov, as a passenger. Fellow UFC fighter Michael Chiesa sustained cuts to his head and eyes, and he said that as a result the New York State Athletic Commission has ruled out his planned Saturday bout against Anthony Pettis.
Footage of the fight immediately became phenomenon on social media.
UFC President Dana White appeared stunned by what he called the “despicable” behavior of McGregor and his entourage. “They started to attack the buses, throwing trash cans and dollies and things like that,” he said, accordign to WNBC. “Obviously everybody's shaken up... this is the most disgusting thing that's ever happened in the history of this company.”
White also said McGregor's conduct was a "bad career move" and that the fighter will likely be "sued beyond belief."
McGregor had expressed outrage at White just hours before the incident in a profane social media post. His outburst was an apparent response to the UFC chief's public confirmation Wednesday that the upcoming bout between Nurmagomedov and Max Holloway would crown a new UFC lightweight champion. McGregor had been the current titleholder, but White had chosen to strip him of the title over an internal dispute involving McGregor holding titles in two weight classes simultaneously.
[File photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
