McGregor wreaks havoc at UFC 223 media day

A day after UFC president Dana White confirmed he would have his lightweight belt stripped, Conor McGregor ambushed UFC 223’s media day Thursday, showing up at Barclays Center and wreaking havoc.

Videos show McGregor, surrounded by an entourage of about 20 people, throwing barricades and other objects at departing buses at a loading dock. The windshield of one bus was cracked, and fighter Michael Chiesa suffered cuts to the face during the incident.

“Conor went bananas and put a beating on the van that we were in looking for Khabib (Nurmagomedov),” Chiesa’s coach, Rick Little, told MMA Junkie. “A million security guards had to restrain him. Mike’s cut up now. He’s got marks on him, for sure. I don’t think too serious. Everything happened so fast. It was just like we got jumped.”

Chiesa was taken to the hospital, White said. The UFC head told reporters he thought a warrant had been issued for McGregor’s arrest, but NYPD says no warrant has been issued and charges have yet to be filed as they investigate the incident.

A spokemans for the NYPD told SB Nation they are looking for McGregor and want to talk with him after he apparently fled the scene.

“They stormed the building, got down to the loading docks where the fighters were getting on buses and started to attack the buses with trash cans, dollies,” White said. “… This is the most disgusting thing that has ever happened in the history of this company.”

Artem Lobov, scheduled to fight Saturday, has been pulled from the UFC 223 card after appearing to be part of the group with McGregor, according to White.

The event’s headlining fight is a lightweight title bout between Max Holloway (19-3) and Nurmagomedov (25-0).

White said during Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference “one of these guys will be the (lightweight) champion, period” in reference to Holloway and Nurmagomedov. McGregor responded on Twitter not long after with a profane tweet that said, in part, you will “strip me of nothing.”

McGregor claimed the title in November of 2016 with a knockout victory over Eddie Alvarez. At the time, he also held the featherweight belt, becoming the first UFC fighter to hold championships in two divisions at the same time. He was stripped of the featherweight belt two weeks later.

The bout with Alvarez represents McGregor’s last UFC fight. He took time off to await the birth of his son, Conor Jack, and lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his professional boxing debut last August.

–Field Level Media