NEW, YORK, KOMPAS.com - Petarung MMA asal Republik Irlandia, Conor McGregor , menyerahkan diri ke kepolisian Brooklyn satu jam setelah dia melakukan perusakan bus yang mengakibatkan dua atlet UFC di dalamnya mengalami luka serius.
Setelah kejadian perusakan bus terjadi, McGregor menjadi buron karena Presiden UFC, Dany White, melaporkan ulah McGregor kepada kepolisian setempat.
"Ada surat perintah untuk menangkap dia. Mereka sedang mencari McGregor," kata Dany White dikutip dari Daily Mail .
Namun, tidak beberapa lama, McGregor menyerahkan diri kepada pihak kepolisian. McGregor sementara akan menginap di kepolisian Brooklyn untuk menunggu proses penyelidikan atas tuduhan melakukan tindakan kriminal yang membahayakan orang lain.
Baca juga : Setelah Insiden Mengamuk, McGregor Serahkan Diri ke Polisi
Ulah McGregor ini disebabkan keputusan UFC yang akan mencabut sabuk gelar juara dunia kelas ringan McGregor karena tidak melakukan pertandingan sejak tahun 2016.
McGregor yang tidak terima dengan keputusan tersebut mengamuk setelah konferensi pers UFC223 di Barclays Arena, New York, Amerika Serikat, Kamis (5/4/2018).
Petarung berusia 29 tahun ini meluapkan amarahnya dengan merusak bus yang ditumpangi para pesaingnya di UFC hingga menyebabkan kaca bus tersebut pecah.
Dua atlet yang berada dalam bus tersebut, Michael Chiesa dan Ray Borg, mengalami luka serius. Michael Chiesa menderita luka gores di wajahnya, sedangkan Ray Borg mendapatkan kerusakan di dua kornea matanya.
Akibat cedera ini, Michael Chiesa dan Ray Ray Borg harus absen di pertandingan UFC 223 yang dijawadwalkan berlangsung pada Sabtu (8/4/2018) waktu setempat.
UFC president Dana White has revealed that he last spoke to Conor McGregor shortly before he turned himself into police in the wake of a backstage melee, with the Irishman still largely unrepentant for his role in the criminal altercation.
McGregor is facing criminal charges in the wake of a violent altercation he allegedly instigated, which injured two fighters and scuppered three fights ahead of UFC 223, the promotion’s biggest event of the year.
Video footage appears to show McGregor throwing a hand truck at a bus full of fighters after a Thursday news conference at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.
Conor McGregor's most controversial moments
11 show all Conor McGregor's most controversial moments
1/11 Conor McGregor's most controversial moments The Irish superstar is no stranger to controversy. Here are ten occasions in which he generated headlines for all the wrong reasons. Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
2/11 'F*** the Queen' McGregor came in for criticism from some quarters for wearing a poppy at a UFC event back in 2015. “I know where my allegiance lies and what I do for my country,” was his firebrand response. “You have a pint in your hand and a Celtic jersey on in your local. F*** you and the Queen.” Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
3/11 Nazi row One of the first serious controversies in McGregor’s career. “Kiss them feet, Nazi,” he tweeted German fighter Dennis Siver. His apology also came in for criticism: “Ich bin bin sowwy. Now about them feet…” he wrote. Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
4/11 Insulting Aldo “I own this town, I own Rio de Janeiro,” McGregor told Brazilian fighter Jose Aldo, in a series of heavily criticised comments. “In previous times I would invade his favela on horseback and would kill anyone who wasn’t fit to work, but we’re in a new time, so I’ll whoop his ass instead.” Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
5/11 UFC 200 no show McGregor decided he did not have the time to fulfil his press duties ahead of UFC 200, and his scheduled rematch with Nate Diaz. UFC president Dana White was unimpressed with his no-show at a press conference and decided to pull him from the card. McGregor and Diaz would eventually meet at UFC 202, with the Irishman taking a points decision. Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
6/11 Bottles ahoy McGregor has been in trouble for throwing things before. Ahead of UFC 202 he became involved in a heated altercation with the Diaz brothers, which culminated in him hurling full cans of energy drink across a press conference. He was subsequently fined $25k by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and handed 25-hours community service. Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
7/11 Racism allegations There were a number of controversial moments during the Mayweather vs McGregor world press tour, with the UFC champion accused of racism on more than one ocassion. He attracted criticism for telling Mayweather to “dance for me, boy!” before later reasoning he was not a racist because “I’m black from the bellybutton down.” Getty Images
8/11 Showtime spat Showtime Spots executive Stephen Espinoza was less than impressed when McGregor turned his ire to him during the Mayweather vs McGregor world tour. “While we’re at it, f*ck Showtime too,” McGregor shouted at Espinoza in Toronto. “Look at you, you little f*cking weasel, I can see it in your eyes, you’re a f*cking bitch. Cut my mic off? Cut the champ’s mic off? Hell no. You f*cking weasel.” Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
9/11 Bellator brawl After his team-mate Charlie Ward defeated John Redmond at a Bellator event in Dublin, McGregor vaulted into the cage and began arguing with respected referee Marc Goddard. McGregor pushed Goddard and threatened an official, before eventually apologising. “I’ve always learned from my mistakes, and this will be no different,” he said.
10/11 Homophobia allegations The Irishman was heavily criticised when television cameras overheard him referring to Andre Fili as a “f****” after the American beat his training partner Artem Lobov at UFC Gdansk. “I’m human; I slip up, I say stupid things every damn day,” McGregor later apologised. “All I can (do) is hold my hand up and apologise if anyone was offended.” Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
11/11 Darkest day A warrant for McGregor’s arrest was issued after the Irishman was caught on video smashing the window of a bus full of fighters with a sack trolley. Two fighters were injured in the incident, with McGregor eventually handing himself in to the police.
The New York Police Department later confirmed that McGregor was charged after handing himself in. He now faces three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief, and will appear at Brooklyn Criminal Court after 9.30am local time (14.30 GMT).
And speaking ahead of the UFC 223 weigh-ins, White confirmed that McGregor was still struggling to appreciate the severity of his situation.
“Conor and I talked through text yesterday. It was obviously the worst conversation we have ever had, shortly before he turned himself in,” White said on American sports show First Things First.
“I don’t believe he realised what had just happened. It’s not that I don’t think he understood what happened, it’s that he tried to justify it.
“He said listen I’m sorry about Michael [Chiesa], and I’m sorry about Rose [Namajunas] and whoever else, but this had to be done.”
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Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor turned himself in to police Thursday and was arrested and charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief after his role in a fracas that left UFC fighter Michael Chiesa in the hospital with a facial laceration. The incident took place after a media event ahead of Saturday’s UFC 223 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
According to the Independent, McGregor was held overnight and remained in police custody early Friday morning as he awaited a court appearance in Brooklyn. MMA Fighting reported that Cian Cowley, McGregor’s SBG teammate, also was charged with one count of assault and one count of criminal mischief over the incident.
McGregor was led out of the 78th Precinct in Brooklyn for a court appearance Friday morning, according to video posted by New York’s WNBC and other outlets. His court appearance is not expected to be lengthy, with a judge setting bail and a future court date and then releasing him. It’s unknown whether he will be allowed to return to his native Ireland.
An NYPD source said that McGregor has been cooperative. He has a lot of fans on the force. One told me McGregor was seen shadowboxing as he was awaiting his arraignment. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 6, 2018
Three matches scheduled for Saturday’s UFC 223 card were scrapped because of the incident, cutting the card to 10 bouts. Chiesa, who was to fight Anthony Pettis, was cut in the face and was in the hospital; he has been deemed unfit to fight by the New York State Athletic Commission and the UFC medical team. Ray Borg, a flyweight who was scheduled to battle Brandon Moreno, also was deemed unfit to fight after suffering corneal abrasions. Artem Lobov, a McGregor friend and ally who was part of the incident, also was pulled from the card.
Separately, Max Holloway, who was scheduled to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight belt in the headline bout, was declared medically unfit to fight by the athletic commission before Friday’s weigh-in.The status of the title bout remains unclear. According to MMA Junkie, Anthony Pettis — who had been scheduled to fight Chiesa — has been called upon to fight Nurmagomedov, although reports indicated other fighters might still be chosen.
[ Conor McGregor says he’s done prizefighting, wants to ‘legitimize’ UFC title ]
UFC President Dana White said Friday morning that he had been in contact with McGregor, and that the fighter had attempted to justify his actions. White said the fracas was not prompted by McGregor getting stripped of his lightweight belt earlier this week, but rather by previous bad feelings between McGregor’s camp and Nurmagomedov, the Russian fighter scheduled to face Holloway for McGregor’s vacated belt in Saturday’s main event. Nurmagomedov was filmed in a confrontation at a hotel with Lobov, the McGregor friend, earlier this week.
“Conor and I talked through text yesterday, obviously the worst conversation we have ever had, ” White said during a Friday morning appearance on Fox Sports 1’s “First Things First,” adding that the conversation took place before McGregor turned himself in. “It’s not that I don’t think he understood what happened, it’s just … he justified it, it was justified to him. … [He thought] it had to be done.”
White said McGregor and his crew — “20 hoodlums they flew in from Ireland” — gained access to the arena thanks to “people on the inside” who were covering the event for McGregor’s company. The confrontation came when the McGregor entourage attacked a bus filled with fighters and staffers, including Nurmagomedov, as the bus began to leave Barclays Center following Thursday’s media event.
“These buses are full of a ton of fighters and their cornermen,” White said. “And they’re just throwing things into the windows not caring who they hit. … They hit Mike Chiesa. Mike Chiesa has nothing to do with this. … Many of the fighters and cornermen have nothing to do with this situation.”
"When Conor found out, he loaded up the plane full of guys from Ireland, flew over here & coordinated this attack."@DanaWhite explains what lead to the McGregor incident at Barclays pic.twitter.com/7OcYsI1C1B — First Things First (@FTFonFS1) April 6, 2018
In an appearance later Friday on ESPN’s “Get Up!” White said the incident was not a stunt meant to generate publicity for UFC, which has lost a number of star fighters in recent months to boxing (McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather in a lucrative bout last year), pro wrestling (Ronda Rousey) and a combination of wrestling and failed doping tests (Brock Lesnar).
“This is the last stunt on Earth we would ever pull. I mean, this is embarrassing for the sport and obviously for the UFC,” White said. “This is the furthest thing from a stunt.”
White added that McGregor won’t be getting any sort of bailout from UFC.
“Normally, yes — I would dive right in and do everything in my power to help one of my guys,” White said on the ESPN show. “But not in this situation. He came into the Barclays Center, attacked our fighters, and attacked my staff with a bunch of guys — no. You don’t get my help on this one.”
Videos posted to social media showed a chaotic scene Thursday, with at least one guardrail being flung and general disorder. (A fuller video of the bus incident is here; it contains explicit language.)
Wild video from Felice Herrig's Instagram of Conor McGregor and company wrecking things behind the scenes. pic.twitter.com/tFqZ16JBqy — Michael Hutchinson (@TheMikeyHutch) April 5, 2018
“Conor went bananas and put a beating on the van that we were in,” 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.”
Little told the site that his fighter had been cut by shattered glass. And some media members at the arena reported that the target of McGrergor’s ire was apparently Nurmagomedov, who seemed to believe that was the case.
“I am laughing inside,” the Russian told MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani. “You broke window? Why? Come inside. If you real gangster why don’t you come inside? This is big history gangster place. Brooklyn. You want to talk to me? Send me location. I am going to come. No problem.”
White on Thursday called the incident the most despicable thing in UFC history, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
“You want to grab 30 [expletive] friends and come down here and do what you did today?” White said in a video posted by Okamoto. “It’s disgusting. And I don’t think anybody is going to be huge Conor McGregor fans after this. I don’t know if he’s on drugs or what his deal is, but to come and do this and act like this?”
White had announced earlier this week there would be “no interim champ” following Saturday’s scheduled lightweight main event between Max Holloway and Nurmagomedov.
“When this fight is over, champion,” White said at a news conference, gesturing to Nurmagomedov and Holloway. “One of these guys will be the champion.”
This news was not taken well by McGregor, the previous permanent holder of that title.
“You’s’ll strip me of nothing,” he tweeted very early Thursday morning, before calling UFC officials an unprintable word.
McGregor won the lightweight title by defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in a November 2016 bout but stepped away from the octagon to train for last year’s lucrative boxing match against Floyd Mayweather. Tony Ferguson stepped in to win an interim lightweight belt in McGregor’s absence, but White said Saturday’s bout between Nurmagomedov and Holloway will decide a new official champion.
“Tony Ferguson isn’t being stripped. The only person here who is losing a belt is Conor. Conor’s losing the belt, these two are fighting for the belt,” White said at the news conference.
Before Thursday’s fracas, White insisted that McGregor “is coming back this year, 100 percent,” adding, “We’ll see how this thing plays out [with the lightweight title], and we’ll go from there.”
He later reiterated that stance on Fox Sports’ “UFC Tonight,” saying: “Conor does want to fight. Conor and I have been talking a lot. Conor does want to come back, he does want to fight, so he will fight this year.”
That was before Thursday’s events, which figure to forever change McGregor’s relationship with UFC.
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Watching Conor McGregor racing through the loading dock at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Thursday, throwing dollies at a bus like some crazy-eyed hooligan, I could only think of John McCain.
It was the US senator who years ago denounced the UFC as “human cockfighting”, affixing a label of lawlessness on mixed martial arts that pushed them into the corners of what was considered acceptable adult behavior. The UFC has worked for years to combat this image, with brain safety and doping mandates that helped attract a corporate buyer and led McCain to reconsider his opinion.
Conor McGregor charged with assault following UFC backstage melee in New York Read more
“The MMA cleaned up their act, they really did,” McCain told me in 2016. “When it first started they were able to do things that are now prohibited. I don’t have a problem with the MMA.”
Now the UFC’s biggest name, their star who burst into the mainstream, landing on magazine covers, luring many to a sport they’d never might have never considered, has been charged with assault and criminal mischief. One of these counts is a felony. And it does far more than any bloody brawl or failed doping test to destroy the credibility the UFC has built in recent years. The videos of the organization’s most visible fighter raging across concrete corridors, hurling garbage cans, project to the world an image that confirms McCain’s original impression.
What does it say about the UFC when the only fighter to hold titles in two of its divisions at once starts acting a common hoodlum?
Play Video 1:24 Conor McGregor attacks bus backstage at UFC event – video
Two years ago, back when he still came off as clever, McGregor once sat in a pre-fight press conference with Nate Diaz and said Diaz had “a bully mentality”. He then mocked Diaz’s mentors – some of whom are MMA royalty – as “bums.” As he said this, McGregor wore a fine plaid suit. He looked elegant. And even though he tussled with Diaz on stage, he still came off as regal, the fighter with an uncanny ability to describe exactly how he would win his fights. For this he became known as “Mystic Mac”.
But there was nothing mystical or magical about the man bellowing through Barclays with a posse of sycophants, scampering from security, flinging anything not bolted down at a bus filled with other fighters. When he threw the dolly through the bus window, he allegedly injured lightweight fighter Michael Chiesa and flyweight Ray Borg enough that both were pulled from Saturday’s UFC 233 card. McGregor came off as the very things he once decried: a bully and a bum.
Maybe, in a way, this was some kind of extravagant fight promotion. The real target of McGregor’s ire was supposedly Khabib Nurmagomedov, the rising lightweight star whose fight with Max Holloway on Saturday night was for the belt McGregor was stripped of for not fighting in the UFC since November 2016. McGregor was once a master of hype, building hysteria for his fights with profane tirades.
What happened Thursday was no masterful stroke of promotional genius. McGregor’s act has grown tiresome in recent months as his star has peaked and he almost seems to have developed a compulsion to be outrageous. He looked tacky and obnoxious in his pre-fight tour with Floyd Mayweather before their fight last year and in dragging his gang of hangers-on to charge a bus under an arena two days before a big fight night was stupid. There’s no honor in getting arrested for potentially damaging the careers of other fighters. McGregor, a man obsessed with money, should understand that. With Chiesa and Borg’s withdrawls and UFC president Dana White’s removal of Artem Lobov (who was with McGregor on Thursday), he may have cost the UFC three fights on Saturday’s card. When Holloway was declared medically unfit to fight on Friday morning, the UFC was left with a shell of an event.
“This is the last stunt on earth that we’d ever pull,” White told ESPN.“This is embarrassing for the sport and obviously for the UFC. This is the furthest thing from a stunt. This is bad.
Times have changed. This isn’t the old anything-goes UFC. The work White and others did to polish the organization’s image resulted in a $4bn sale to WME-IMG. The modern UFC is not the renegade UFC. They are a huge corporate entity desperate to appeal to the mainstream. What McGregor did on Thursday might draw a knowing smile from a fight fan who will shrug the whole thing off a part of “fighting”. But it doesn’t appeal to the broader world that puts people like McGregor and former female star Ronda Rousey on magazine covers and television commercials.
“It’s out of character for Conor McGregor and any of my fighters,” White said in his ESPN interview, looking shaken by what happened. “Listen, crazy things happen in sports. ... In the history of the UFC, this is definitely the worst thing that’s happened. This is not Conor McGregor. This is not the Conor McGregor that I know.”
UFC executives have been frustrated with McGregor ever since he knocked out José Aldo in 13 seconds back in UFC 194. The win propelled McGregor to new fame, making him almost bigger than the organization himself – something he exploited to become increasing more difficult to control. They put up with his behavior because, for a time, it made them money.
But this time McGregor crossed a line. White is right, the McGregor of recent months, the McGregor on Thursday, was nothing like the one who became the UFC’s greatest star. He has to make a choice now. Does he want to be a champion or a bully and a bum, throwing it all away to throw trashcans at buses?
