Referee Marc Goddard stopped the action in the Lobov-Fili fight to reprimand Conor McGregor for coaching his teammate despite not being an official cornerman.
UFC Gdansk is firmly underway right now, and somehow, Conor McGregor has already managed to receive a stern warning from referee Marc Goddard despite not even being a competitor on the card. McGregor arrived at the Ergo Arena during the Touahri-Alves fight, as his teammate, Artem Lobov, was taking on Andre Fili in the next bout.
During Lobov’s fight, “The Notorious” was pacing around the perimeter of the Octagon, shouting advice and seemingly coaching him, despite not being one of the registered cornermen. Goddard actually stopped the action to admonish McGregor, telling him to “be professional” and get back to his seat.
Conor did not protest, just raised his hands up in contrite fashion, nodding his understanding and offering apologies. The official UFC Twitter account captured the moment with an animated .gif tweet, lightening the mood.
“My bad, my bad” #UFCGdansk @TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/IRjOMKPNtC
— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2017
Here are a few other tweets from around the community discussing the odd situation:
Wow. Goddard stopped the fight to move McGregor back to his seat.
— John Morgan (@MMAjunkieJohn) October 21, 2017
Marc Goddard stops the action to tell Conor McGregor to “be professional”, McGregor is not an official cornerman for Lobov
— John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) October 21, 2017
A fighter is only allowed three cornermen and apparently Goddard felt like McGregor was acting as one for Lobov. #UFCGdansk
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) October 21, 2017
Lobov was thoroughly outclassed by Fili, losing a unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards. You can follow the rest of the action via our live play-by-play and discussion post, led by one of our managing editors, Tim Burke.