UFC News: Conor McGregor jumps cage, shoves Marc Goddard, slaps official at Bellator 187 (Video)
What’s the story?
Conor McGregor shoved a referee and slapped a promotional employee at Bellator 187.
The MMA community is abuzz about the entire fiasco and possible consequences for McGregor.
McGregor’s teammate and friend Charlie Ward knocked out John Redmond in the very first round at the show which took place in Conor McGregor’s hometown of Dublin, Ireland, following which the Notorious UFC Champion jumped the cage fence and embraced his friend.
In case you didn’t know…
Conor McGregor is in the midst of negotiations with the UFC, and has refused to compete for the promotion unless they give in to his demands of according him an ownership stake.
McGregor attended UFC’s rival promotion Bellator MMA’s November 10th event Bellator 187.
The heart of the matter
When Ward and McGregor were celebrating inside the cage, highly-reputed referee Marc Goddard shoved the UFC Lightweight Champion and ordered that he be escorted out the cage.
In response to Goddard’s shove, a seemingly infuriated McGregor chased after him and shoved him in return. McGregor and Artem Lobov then engaged in a tussle with other officials at the scene. Furthermore, McGregor also sat atop the cage fence and upon being requested to get down, slapped a Bellator employee.
What’s next?
It’s unclear, as of this time, whether or not McGregor will face any legal consequences for his actions at Bellator 187.
Author’s take
Honestly speaking, this seems to be a genius marketing ploy on the part of McGregor, especially when you consider that Bellator MMA seem to be making light of the situation and portraying McGregor in a positive light despite his actions.
McGregor has threatened to refrain from competing for the UFC if not given ownership stakes in the company. If things go south in his negotiations with them, Scott Coker and Bellator MMA will be more than happy to scoop him up and away from Dana White, WME-IMG and the UFC.