Don’t expect any remorse from Conor McGregor for his behavior at Bellator 187.
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor became the star of Bellator 187 in his home country of Ireland, as he found himself in a heated confrontation with referee Marc Goddard in the immediate aftermath of Charlie Ward’s knockout win vs. John Redmond.
McGregor, who attended the Bellator card as a spectator, stormed into the cage to celebrate with Ward, a longtime friend and teammate of his, but scenes turned chaotic when Conor shoved Goddard, who wanted McGregor out of the cage and hadn’t even had the chance to check on the badly hurt Redmond. As if that wasn’t enough, McGregor was seen slapping a Bellator official whilst on top of the cage, so it was quite the contentious Friday evening for the biggest star in MMA.
Association of Boxing Commissions president Mike Mazzulli wrote a statement admonishing McGregor for his behavior, and there is a significant possibility that McGregor will face some form of punishment.
McGregor, who has called Goddard “a rat” and has steadily built up a history with him, took to Twitter to address his actions from Friday, and then just as quickly deleted the tweet, which wrote:
“Bloke KO’d on the floor bout a minute straight and ref trying to say fights not over Conor. That’s when I lost it. F–k yous all.”
A screenshot of the tweet can be found here.
Ward’s KO of Redmond occurred at the 4:59 of round 1, with a right hand that knocked Redmond down, then one follow-up punch led to Goddard’s intervention.
Meanwhile, McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh had this to say about Conor’s behavior.
John Kavanagh on TV3 just now said McGregor was “emotional” and “went over the top.” Says Conor thought the fight was over. He says he thinks it’s understandable because of Conor’s relationship with Charlie.
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) November 13, 2017