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06th Apr 2018

Conor in police custody following backstage UFC chaos

Three fights have been pulled from the UFC 223 card

Oli Dugmore

Three fights have been pulled from the UFC 223 card

Conor McGregor has turned himself in to police following a backstage melee at a UFC event in New York.

The NYPD wanted to speak to the Irish fighter after footage emerged that appeared to show him throwing a railing at a rival’s bus during an unannounced appearance at a press conference in Brooklyn on Thursday.

He is now in police custody, having arrived at the police station at 9pm local time on Thursday.

The New York Police Department told BBC Sport McGregor will see a judge after 7am (12pm BST).

As the UFC 223 media day was wrapping up, ‘The Notorious’ made his presence felt by storming the venue which will host this weekend’s card in Brooklyn, where the new UFC lightweight champion will be crowned.

McGregor clearly hasn’t taken too kindly to claims from UFC President Dana White that he will strip the Irishman of the 155lbs title.

The bus which was attacked was the very one in which Nurmagomedov, who was involved in an altercation with McGregor’s training partner Artem Lobov earlier this week, was travelling.

McGregor’s last combat sports appearance was a 10th round technical knockout loss to 50-0 Floyd Mayweather (Credit: Christian Petersen)

Nurmagomedov escaped unscathed, while Michael Chiesa sustained cuts to his face in the incident and Lobov was pulled from the card for his role.

Chiesa’s injury is so severe he is not able to compete against Anthony Pettis in just two days’ time.

Ray Borg has been forced out of a bout against Brandon Moreno because of multiple corneal abrasions.

Three fights in total have been pulled from the card.

McGregor has not yet been charged in relation to the incident as police continue to investigate.

Footage appears to show McGregor attacking a UFC fighters’ bus (Credit: David Becker)

The UFC released a statement on the incident on Thursday, which read: “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, vandalised 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 organisation 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.”

McGregor is now in police custody (Credit: Sean M. Haffey)

In a further update on the event this weekend, the UFC confirmed that three fights had been cancelled on Saturday night’s card, two due to injuries caused by the incident and one due to Artem Lobov’s role in it.

“Thursday afternoon, following the UFC 223 media day at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, an incident in the facility injured two athletes on Saturday’s card, forcing them to be pulled from the event,” the update read.

“Lightweight Michael Chiesa, who received several facial cuts, was deemed unfit to fight by the New York State Athletic Commission and the UFC medical team, and he was removed from his bout against Anthony Pettis.

“Flyweight Ray Borg, who was scheduled to face Brandon Moreno, was deemed unfit to fight as well due to multiple corneal abrasions.

“Also removed from the card was the featherweight bout between Artem Lobov and Alex Caceres due to Lobov’s involvement in the incident.

“UFC 223 will proceed as scheduled with 10 bouts. Moving to the Pay-Per-View main card is the featherweight bout between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Kyle Bochniak.”