John Redmond is not “doing MMA” because he wants to be trendy or tough.
It’s his fucking dream.
And like so many other fighters, he’s been able to turn that dream into a reality and make combat sports his career. So he expects a certain amount of professionalism both inside and outside the cage, something that was not on display during his last fight at Bellator 187.
That’s because UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor stormed the cage to celebrate with Charlie Ward when Redmond was popped and dropped in the first round of last Friday night’s Dublin affair, which led to complete chaos inside the arena.
Redmond vents to TMZ Sports:
“You can’t fuckin’ jump out of a crowd in a sporting contest and do all that type of stuff,. In no place in life is that really tolerated. I’m not gonna pat him on the fuckin’ back for what he’s doing. Somethin’ I’ve worked for all these years and he just made it about that then, about his actions. I’m just lookin’ from the fighter’s point of view here. This is my career here, this is my fuckin’ dream, I want the fuckin’ rematch and I want to make this right. Tell your boy to bleedin’ gear up again and get in and fight me. Let’s fuckin’ do this, that’s my message.”
Redmond was trampled during the melee, but won’t be pressing charges or seeking any sort of legal retribution. Instead, he wants to set things right by rematching Ward — a longstanding member of the McGregor posse — at some point in 2018.
As for McGregor, he was reportedly yanked from his UFC 219 return and could face further penalties from UFC (details), though no statement has been offered from the promotion and “Notorious” has been keeping quiet.