The UFC is still undecided on any potential punishment for Conor McGregor after he went on a rampage in Brooklyn a few weeks ago that left two fighters and one UFC employee injured.
The entire altercation occurred just ahead of UFC 223 as McGregor and his team stormed through the Barclays Center in an attempt to get at lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov after he was involved in an incident earlier in the week with featherweight competitor Artem Lobov.
The end result was McGregor throwing a moving dolly through a bus window that injured both Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg, knocking them out of UFC 223, with another UFC employee suffering several injuries.
Afterwards, McGregor was arrested and faces three misdemeanor assault charges and a felony criminal mischief charge for his part leading the melee.
As of now, the UFC hasn’t issued any sort of punishment for McGregor’s actions and it doesn’t appear they will hand down any kind of suspension or fine at least until after the former champion has his day in court.
“We’ll see what happens,” UFC president Dana White told TMZ. “He’s gotta be punished by the law first. Let’s see what happens in New York.”
McGregor is due back in court on June 14 to appear before a judge regarding those four charges stemming from the bus assault. The court appearance and any punishment handed down as a result will also play a part in when McGregor can fight in the UFC again.
“Gotta go through that first,” White said about McGregor’s legal situation holding up his return to action.
It’s impossible to know what the UFC might do to McGregor — if anything — given the unique circumstances surrounding this particular incident. McGregor is by far the UFC’s biggest draw and getting him back in action sooner rather than later is only going to be good for the company’s bottom line.
At the same time, what kind of message does it send if McGregor faces no punishment after injuring a pair of fighters just before their bouts at UFC 223.
As far as his return to action, most believe that McGregor is likely headed for a showdown with Nurmagomedov given the history between the two fighters as well as the title being up for grabs.
One thing White said for certain regarding that fight is that it won’t take place in Russia despite rumors to the contrary. White confirmed that if that matchup comes together, McGregor would face Nurmagomedov in Las Vegas and nowhere else.
“No [it will not be in Russia]. If you do a fight that big, you gotta do it in Vegas,” White said. “Khabib will fight in Russia at some point, but it won’t be that fight. It’s too big. You gotta do it in Vegas.”
Do you think the UFC will punish Conor McGregor for his actions in Brooklyn? Sound off in the comments and let us know.
