Conor McGregor charged with three counts of assault for bizarre attack on UFC press event

Alan Dawson

  • Conor McGregor has been charged by the New York Police Department for his involvement in an unprecedented attack at a UFC press conference on Thursday.

  • Two UFC fighters were hospitalised in the incident and are unable to fight at Saturday's big UFC 223 show.

  • McGregor's friend Artem Lobov, who was also scheduled to fight this weekend, has been withdrawn from the event as punishment for his involvement.

  • McGregor is now due to appear in court in New York on Friday.

UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been formally charged with three counts of assault and one of criminal mischief, according to the New York Police Department.

McGregor, a former two-time UFC world champion, stormed a UFC press conference in New York City on Thursday.

The Irishman was recorded on video throwing guard rails at a bus carrying UFC fighters and smashing a window in an attack that left two athletes requiring hospital treatment.

McGregor was taken into custody after turning himself in to the 78th precinct in Brooklyn. According to RTE journalist Des Cahill, McGregor is "due to appear in court in New York" on Friday.

UFC is in New York to promote the UFC 223 pay-per-view event at the Barclays Center on Saturday.

Two fighters, Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg, required medical treatment after the incident. Borg suffered an eye injury from shattered glass, while Chiesa suffered multiple cuts to the face, according to MMAFighting journalist Ariel Helwani.

As a result, Chiesa and Borg will be unable to fight on Saturday, reducing the number of fights this weekend to ten bouts from a planned 13.

McGregor was not alone in attacking the bus and it is believed McGregor's friend, Artem Lobov, was also involved. Lobov was due to fight Alex Caceres on Saturday, but has been withdrawn from the event as punishment.

UFC issued the following statement late on Thursday:

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.

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 cornea 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.

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