UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been charged with three counts of assault after a harrowing incident in which he was seen allegedly throwing a dolly at a bus window, raining shards of glass upon several MMA rivals.
Though he’s been known to do and say several dumb things in the past, this is a bit worse than announcing that he’s “black from the waist down.”
This event may end his career, and it all started with a bad blood confrontation between two other fighters.
This story is wild from start to finish. Here is the incident that set things in motion:
On Tuesday, April 3, Khabib Nurmagomedov had a relatively minor confrontation with Artem Lobov, in which Khabib cornered Artem.
Reportedly, Khabib grabbed Artem by the neck and struck him multiple times in the face.
Conor McGregor wasn’t there, but you might say that he was involved. He and Artem are close.
Furthermore, Conor and Khabib engage in frequent “trash talk” and seem to have a genuine rivalry for each other that extends beyond their sport.
It’s probably safe to say that no one expected this hostile run-in to blow up as it did, days later.
During a promotion for UFC 223 on Thursday, April 5, Conor McGregor showed up at Barclays Center when no one expected him to.
His intent appears to have been to confront Khabib over what went down with Artem earlier in the week.
Khabib was on a bus at the time, and was reportedly accompanied by his management team as well as “red corner” UFC 223 fighters like Rose Namajunas, Al Iaquinta, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Ray Borg, and Michael Chiesa.
But it seems that Conor did not see the slow-moving bus or the teammates as a real obstacle.
TMZ spotted Conor as he ran alongside the bus … and then grabs a dolly that was being used to transport equipment and throws the dolly at the bus window.
The result was a shattered bus window and, reportedly, injuries.
Dana White tells TMZ that Michael Chiesa was on the bus and was “cut to pieces” by the shards of shattered glass from the bus window.
Chiesa has been hospitalized. On Thursday evening, Chiesa wrote on Twitter that he has been been the MMA version of benched because of his injuries.
“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.”
As one might imagine, Conor McGregor is expected to get into a lot of trouble for this.
In fact, Dana White tells TMZ that: “This is bigger than us firing him.”
Since then, Khabib Nurmagomedov has mocked Conor’s behavior while speaking to MMA Fighting, saying:
“I am laughing inside. You broke window? Why? Come inside.”
One imagines that they can hear his accent as he taunts Conor.
“You know UFC don’t let you come inside. If you real gangster why don’t you come inside?”
His statement continues with what many would construe as a thinly veiled threat of physical harm.
“This is big history gangster place. Brooklyn. You want to talk to me? Send me location. We have to talk? I am gonna come, no problem.”
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that Conor McGregor has gotten into trouble in recent memory.
For one thing, he’s earned scorn for hurling homophobic slurs at opponents. Yes, he should know better.
In November of 2017, he jumped into the cage at Bellator 187 to celebrate his teammate’s perceived win. The referee had not made a ruling yet, and attempted to remove Conor.
Conor responded by shoving the referee multiple times and then reportedly slapped the commissioner when confronted.
Some worry that the aggression and total lack of impulse control displayed by Conor is the result of chronic head trauma doing damage to his brain, a phenomena discussed in recent years with respect to football.
Others think that perhaps it is simply the disposition that would lead someone to a career in which they punch other men for a living.
Either way, it sounds like Conor McGregor’s career may be at its end.