Conor McGregor was a spectator for Bellator 187 in Dublin Friday night, but the UFC champion managed to become a huge part of the show after watching his partner knock out an opponent.
McGregor sat ringside for Charlie Ward’s fight against John Redmond, and “The Notorious” was so excited for his teammate’s victory that he climbed into the cage to tackle him. Since he wasn’t a licensed cornerman, referee Marc Goddard tried to get McGregor to leave. That didn’t sit well with the Irishman.
Madness in Dublin thanks to @TheNotoriousMMA!!! DO NOT miss #Bellator187 TONIGHT on @spike 9/8c pic.twitter.com/BGWcOBDvFb
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) November 10, 2017
In another video that TMZ shared, McGregor was shown trying to get back into the ring after security guards finally managed to get him to leave. He slapped a security staffer in the head and kept shouting “that was a f—ing stoppage!”
As Peter Carroll of MMAFighting.com notes, McGregor has a history with Goddard. At a previous UFC event in Poland, Goddard told McGregor to back away from the ringside when he was shouting instructions at Artem Lobov, who is another teammate.
The Bellator employee that McGregor slapped was Mike Johnson, and the organization released a statement Friday night saying it is looking into the incident.
“We’re are aware of the in-cage altercation involving Conor McGregor and a Bellator staff member,” the statement read. “Viacom and Bellator hold the safety and well-being of our staff in the highest regard and we’re currently reviewing the situation.”
Dana White recently announced a potential date for McGregor’s next UFC fight. While you never want to see antics like the ones we saw from McGregor on Friday, that type of behavior is what makes him such a big draw.
