At his court appearance today, Conor McGregor and his team said they will look to negotiate a plea for the charges against him. They will be back in court on July 26.
The MMA world wondered if we would receive a resolution to the Conor McGregor fiasco at UFC 223 and get one step closer to “The Notorious” returning to the cage today. Instead, it appears we will have to wait a little longer as McGregor and his team appeared in court to say they would be looking to negotiate a plea bargain. Both McGregor and teammate Cian Cowley appeared in court for a procession that lasted a little over a minute. The judge set them another appearance for July 26.
By all accounts, McGregor’s actions were reprehensible but most insiders doubt he will see any jail time for his actions on April 05 where he threw a dolly at a bus prior to UFC 223. The broken glass as a result caused lacerations to Michael Chiesa, which pulled him from his scheduled bout with Anthony Pettis. Flyweight contender Ray Borg also had complications with his eye due to microscopic shards affecting his vision and was pulled from his bout with Brandon Moreno. McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov also took part, joining McGregor’s crew as they caused unrest around the bus containing fighters. Lobov was subsequently pulled from his bout with Alex Careers. Also, strawweight champion Rose Namajunas was close in proximity to where McGregor did damage, and while she felt distressed by the incident, she remained on the card.
Conor McGregor makes a statement after his brief court hearing #UFC pic.twitter.com/upL6V2rED2
— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) June 14, 2018
Following the court appearance, McGregor gave a brief statement:
“I regret my actions that led to today. I understand the seriousness of this matter and I’m hopeful this will get worked out. Thank you, everyone.”
UFC President Dana White said earlier this week that he had scheduled a meeting with McGregor for June 18 in which he hoped to get an idea of the Irishman’s plans for the future. Currently, the UFC has been aiming towards putting together a fight between McGregor and current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. At a time when the UFC has struggled with ratings on pay-per-view, getting their biggest draw back in the cage is undoubtedly the outcome they are hoping for. If they are unable to come to terms, it is expected that Nurmagomedov will face the winner of the Eddie Alvarez vs Dustin Poirier taking place next month.
It is expected that McGregor will look to plead guilty in hopes of a lighter punishment, and most optimistically look to get a lesser charge. In a statement to Ariel Helwani, McGregor’s manager Audie Attar said after the hearing that he expects the entire matter to be resolved at the next court appearance on July 26.
