Conor McGregor Window-Smashin' Bus Attack ... Insane Video
Conor McGregor Injures UFC Fighter In Bus Attack, Warrant Out for His Arrest
EXCLUSIVE
12:18 PM PT -- TMZ Sports now has video showing Conor picking up a dolly and smashing the side window of the bus.
We spoke with Dana White ... who tells us Michael Chiesa was "cut to pieces" in the attack and is currently hospitalized for his injuries. It's unclear if he will fight as planned at UFC 223.
White also says Rose Namajunas was also on the bus and was very shaken up during the incident -- she almost broke her hand.
We asked if Dana will fire Conor as a result of the incident and he told us, "This is bigger than us firing him."
Story developing ...
TMZ Sports has obtained video of Conor McGregor and his entourage going BERSERK at the Barclays Center ... attacking a bus leaving the arena with several UFC fighters including Khabib Nurmagomedov.
An object was thrown through one of the bus windows -- and the damage left one fighter, UFC lightweight contender Michael Chiesa, cut up and bloodied.
Unclear who was responsible for shattering the side window but it's clear people on the bus suspect it's Conor.
A member of Conor's entourage then grabbed a chair and threw it at the front windshield of the bus. Conor grabbed a chair and tried to attack as well, but was restrained.
Fighters were at the arena doing media ahead of UFC 223 ... and McGregor was videotaped by several witnesses running around the arena before the incident.
Police sources tell us NYPD got a call for a fight at Barclays involving 25 males ... and EMS was called to the scene to treat injuries.
Unclear what may have triggered the incident, but Khabib did get into a heated confrontation with Conor's good friend and training partner, Artem Lobov, Tuesday at the UFC fighters' hotel in New York.
Story developing ...
Conor McGregor and his team showed up at the Barclays Center for UFC 223 Media Day, and they weren't there to deliver well wishes to the fighters on the card.
On Thursday as the UFC concluded pre-event festivities for UFC 223, McGregor and his entourage seemed to have stormed the Barclays Center, thrown objects and allegedly challenged and injured one of the fighters being transported by the promotion via van.
McGregor was apparently upset at the news that he would be stripped of his lightweight title. He and a group of men showed up in what looks like an effort to express his displeasure with the decision. A fracas ensued and UFC lightweight contender Michael Chiesa reportedly suffered a facial laceration of some kind.
The severity of the injury is still unknown, but here is an account from members of the MMA media who were on hand for the events.
UPDATE:
There is apparently a warrant out for McGregor's arrest, per UFC President Dana White:
Chiesa's face was lacerated multiple times, UFC strawweight champion was threatened and bothered and an UFC employee was injured. Artem Lobov, who was set to fight on Saturday, has been removed from the card. He was reportedly a part of the entourage that attacked the bus.
Dana White confirmed Michael Chiesa suffered an injury, cuts to the face, and is in the hospital. Artem Lobov has been pulled from UFC 223, per White, as he was apparently part of the crew that stormed the building. — Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 5, 2018
ESPN's Okamoto reports warrant has not been filed and that NYPD is simply investigating the incident.
Despite Dana White’s comments about an arrest warrant on McGregor, ABC News reports NYPD is currently investigating the incident and has not issued a warrant yet. — Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 5, 2018
END OF UPDATE
Conor McGregor stormed through Barclays, ended up in the loading dock of the arena with his entourage in tow and “swarmed” a bus that was leaving with UFC fighters and camps. Conor and crew were “throwing chairs, bike racks.” — Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 5, 2018
@feliceherrig gets footage of Conor McGregor allegedly wreaking havoc in the loading dock of the Barclays Center ahead of #UFC223 #conormcgregor pic.twitter.com/2WQiYCZxul — MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) April 5, 2018
yoooooo... first time seeing this one. Conor has legit lost his mind. pic.twitter.com/XcLFd2FIMo — caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) April 5, 2018
I’m told as the van was driving away to take the fighters back to the hotel that’s when it happened. Those fighters haven’t left the arena now. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2018
Dana White is on his way back to the arena. Most of he fighters are still in the arena but some were able to leave. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2018
According to multiple sources Michael Chiesa suffered a laceration in the fracas. He is being attended to at the arena. Unclear at this time how serious his injury is. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2018
This Twitter video is perhaps the most revealing and incriminating of all.
I’ve seen video shot by fighters in the van. Very clear Conor is telling someone to get out of the van before being pulled away by security. Khabib and his team were in that particular van. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2018
I’m told some of the fighters who were on the van are “shaken up.” They are still at the arena and Dana White, as well as local authorities, are there now. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2018
MMA Fighting's Luke Thomas asks a very logical question:
At what point is what McGregor did considered a crime? — Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) April 5, 2018
If nothing else, it seems charges for damaging private property are logical. If Chiesa suffered an injury that's even more of an issue. In addition to a possible battery charge, there could also be a lawsuit if the laceration is severe enough to push Chiesa out of his fight with Anthony Pettis on Saturday.
Some in the MMA community seems to believe this incident was staged or a planned publicity stunt from McGregor. That could be the case, but if there were property damage and injury, this could be a stunt or emotional outburst gone terribly wrong.
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has been mostly silent about the possibility of the promotion stripping him of his crown. However, after UFC President Dana White said, on more than one occasion, that McGregor would no longer be the champion at the conclusion of Saturday’s UFC 223, McGregor profanely hit back at his boss on social media.
McGregor won the title in November 2016 with a knockout victory over Eddie Alvarez. The win earned the Irish fighter the distinction of being the first UFC competitor to hold championships in two divisions at the same time. Shortly after he claimed the 155-pound crown, the UFC stripped McGregor of the featherweight belt he had won in December 2015. McGregor never defended the 145-pound strap. Now, without a defense of the lightweight title, McGregor will also lose that belt.
White made his intentions clear regarding the lightweight crown on Wednesday at the UFC 223 pre-fight press conference.
“When this fight is over one of these guys will be the (lightweight) champion, period,” White said while pointing to Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will headline Saturday’s UFC 223 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
You’s’ll strip me of nothing you’s do nothing cunts. — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 5, 2018
White added that he believes McGregor will return to the octagon in 2018, but he had no set date for that return.
McGregor’s last fight was an August boxing match against Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather won that fight via 10th round TKO. McGregor earned a reported $100 million for that bout. Since then he has said on several occasions that he wants an ownership stake in the UFC before he agrees to fight again for the promotion.
Isaac Brekken/Associated Press
The saga of Conor McGregor and the UFC took a turn Thursday with the former lightweight champion reportedly attacking fighters on the UFC 223 card during a press event at the Barclays Center, according to TMZ Sports.
Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported UFC President Dana White said a warrant has been issued for McGregor's arrest following the attack.
However, per ABC News (via ESPN's Brett Okamoto), the New York Police Department is currently investigating the incident and hasn't issued a warrant for McGregor's arrest yet.
In a video interview with MMA Junkie after the incident, White explained that McGregor was let into the building by members of the Mac Life team that runs McGregor's personal website and received media credentials for the press conference.
"They stormed the building," he said. "Got down to the loading docks where the fighters were getting on the buses and started to attack the buses, throwing trash cans and dollies and things like that. Broke one of the windows and cut Michael Chiesa really bad."
White added that one UFC employee suffered a broken knuckle, calling it "the most disgusting thing that has ever happened" in the history of the UFC and that McGregor will "be sued beyond belief."
McGregor's actions come one day after White announced he was stripping the Notorious One of the lightweight title, with the winner of Saturday's main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Max Holloway determining the new 155-pound champion.
