Conor McGregor has been detained by the New York Police Department according to MMA Junkie as of Thursday night which brings an end to a tumultuous day for UFC 223. Three bouts have been cancelled due to McGregor’s actions at the Barclay’s Center.
The UFC has issued a statement in light of the incident:
“During today’s media event at Barclays Center to promote UFC 223: Khabib vs. Holloway, Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov entered the building accompanied by over a dozen individuals.
The group, which included McGregor and Lobov, vandalized the vehicle that contained a number of athletes competing at the event taking place this weekend. NYPD was immediately alerted and is currently in the process of investigating the situation. UFC is working very closely with the New York Athletic Commission, Barclays Center security and law enforcement authorities. All parties are working together to ensure the highest standard of proper safety precautions are implemented to protect the fans and athletes.
The organization deems today’s disruption completely unacceptable and is currently working on the consequences that will follow. Immediately, Lobov has been removed from this weekend’s card and individuals involved in the incident are not welcome at tomorrow’s ceremonial weigh-in or Saturday’s event at Barclays Center.”
Lobov was set to meet Alex Caceres. Michael Chiesa was injured on the bus when glass cut him and his fight with Anthony Pettis was taken off the card. Ray Borg also injured his eye during the incident and his fight with Brandon Moreno was scratched.
Payout Perspective:
There will be a substantial legal fallout from Thursday’s ruckus and most of it will not even deal with McGregor’s criminal issue which will be a relatively minor offense and will be pleaded out (settled) by his attorney. The question about whether the athletes not involved in the offense will be paid is unknown. By contract, none of these fighters made weight since that does not happen until Friday. Moreover, the UFC has been known not to compensate fighters if an injury occurs to their opponent. Also, what becomes of Alex Caceres whose only fault was that he was facing Lobov. These fighters may have legal claims against McGregor and the UFC will also have legal issues against McGregor as it was forced to cancel at least two fights due to the attack. We will see how the UFC deals with these issues and when the fighter lawsuits might occur.
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