Conor McGregor UFC 219 plans scrapped following 'unacceptable' behaviour at Bellator
The Irishman has not fought since his boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Conor McGregor will not be seen inside the Octagon again before 2018 after his actions at a Bellator event in Dublin on Friday night.
The UFC lightweight champion, who took a sabbatical from the UFC in order to face boxer Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas, jumped into the cage to celebrate stable-mate Charlie Ward’s win over John Redmond but was involved in an altercation with the referee.
Mark Goddard attempted to stop McGregor from celebrating inside the ring leading to ugly scenes where the Irishman pushed the referee up against the cage before being escorted out of the arena.
He was due to make his return to MMA by headlining UFC 219 in Las Vegas on December 30 but, as a result of the incident, those plans have been scrapped, the president of the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports, Mike Mazzulli, has complained.
McGregor was all set to face lightweight interim champion Tony Ferguson on the traditional end of year card, but Mazzulli has said it will no longer happen after a UFC official contracted him “within two hours of the Bellator event” to tell him it was off.
“They basically said to me that it's completely unacceptable in their eyes and that they will be doing something,” he said.
“They did inform me that he was set to be on the December 30 card and now he will not be on it. So I do commend the UFC to some extent for doing that.
“On the other hand, I will be looking at it and speaking to my attorneys upon returning to the United States to see if I have any action.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments