A mere 48 hours until their biggest Pay-Per-View card of the year, the UFC got a massive publicity jolt from a fighter who is not even scheduled to fight Saturday. During their last presser before tomorrow’s weigh-ins the promotion’s one true mega star: Conor McGregor decided it was a good time to ‘rampage’ through the Barclay’s center. McGregor made a surprising appearance in Brooklyn as video began to emerge on social media todayshowing the Lightweight Champion attempting to make his way into the Brooklyn venue in search of Khabib Nurmagomedov one half of Saturday’s main event. Video showed McGregor prowling the back tunnels of the arena surrounded by his entourage determined to find Khabib. McGregor than appears to see Khabib on a bus full of fighters on Saturday night’s card and began to bang, smash, and hurl objects at the bus in attempt to get Khabib off of the bus. Conor was shown hurling a moving dolly through one of the buses window’s and reportedly caused facial lacerations to Michael Chisea from the broken glass. McGregor than allegedly left the premises with his entourage after security was able to get the bus to safety. UFC President Dana White has called the act “disgusting” and stated that the NYPD is seeking to question and one would assume detain McGregor as the authorities determine if he will be charged with a crime. The only real explanation for this outside the normal fight hype or trash talk appears to stem from Khabib and his entourage confronting longtime McGregor training partner Artem Lobov on Wednesday. Video emerged of a hotel confrontation where Lobov appeared to be alone and surrounded by Khabib and his team. Khabib put his hands on Lobov’s head and a heated exchange ensued. One could assume this recent McGregor explosion is likely tied to the previous day’s heated back and forth.
The promotion, several fighters, and many in the media are doing the expected pearl clutching at this latest McGregor stunt. An while obviously no one condones hurling moving trolly’s through windows and hurting people, this stunt is great for business. McGregor will likely dole out some hefty settlement checks to Chisea, the state of New York, and likely a big fine or suspension by the UFC. However, in places the promotion and media would rather not talk about this stunt is great for business. This sport is predicated on organized delivery of violence from mixed martial artists gifted in that delivery. McGregor is not on this card but just handed the UFC massive headlines prior to their card on Saturday. A card that may likely serve as choosing Conor’s next opponent when he inevitably returns to the Octagon. Khabib is a tremendous fighter but outside of the MMA community no one really knows or cares who he is. This incident will not only help sell his fight against Max Holloway but should he win and get lucky enough to snag Conor McGregor’s comeback fight; the UFC will have ample promo material to promote their biggest star.
Many people will feign outrage at Conor over this spectacle and that’s a super easy stance. Some will even think the UFC should cut McGregor after this melee. I take two things from McGregor’s latest episode:
- The UFC’s biggest cash cow is not getting cut, so save those hot takes.
- I’m even more exited than ever, for Conor to return to making headlines for his actions ‘inside’ an Octagon.
Fighter profile links from www.Sherdog.com
