https://youtu.be/W3M73d4Nu9k
On Thursday, UFC President Dana White spoke TMZ Sports about the fallout from the wild scene that unfolded between Conor McGregor and Team Nate Diaz at the final official UFC 202 pre-fight press conference in Las Vegas, Nevada this past Wednesday.
White explained that both McGregor, Diaz and anyone else that can be linked to the incident are not going to walk away unscathed. White the UFC won’t be personally punishing either fighter, White pointed out that the company will be doing what they’re supposed to in this kind of a situation, which is turn it over to the commission that is sanctioning the event, which in this case is the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).
“They’re both getting punished,” White told the popular celebrity-gossip website. “What everybody’s got to understand is we’re overseen by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. I guarantee both of these guys are gonna get massive fines and there’s probably going to be a hearing after the fight. There could be suspensions, community service, it’s gonna be ugly.”
From there White dropped a bomb as he pointed out that he has heard talk that someone was injured during the incident on Wednesday, which saw McGregor and Diaz hurling bottles of water and cans of Monster Energy Drink across opposite sides of the theater, with tons of fans in between them for any items that fell short.
While White didn’t outright confirm anything, he did speak as if a lawsuit is already in the works, and that McGregor and Diaz might end up paying a lot more than they thought — if they were thinking at all — when they made the decisions they chose.
“The word is in this thing somebody was injured,” said White. “So there’s going to be a lawsuit. Who knows how it’s all going to play out. Somebody’s filing a lawsuit. The wheels are already in motion on it.”
As is typically the case in any kind of brawl or physical incident, there are always those who are quick to assume that it was staged by the promotion to generate additional interest in the event.
White made it clear that in the case of Wednesday’s wild scene in Las Vegas, everything fans saw go down was all too real and McGregor and Diaz will probably find that out soon as well.
“It was 100-percent real. If you’re going to come up with something staged, throwing cans and bottles in a public place is probably one of the dumbest things you could come up with. It’s going to cost them both a lot of money, a lot of headache and hassle. They’re both in big trouble.”
For those who missed the wild scene at the press conference, you can watch a complete video archive by clicking here. You can also watch a behind-the-scenes video of the incident that UFC released by clicking here. To hear Diaz’s reaction to the incident, watch the following video of his appearance on “UFC Tonight” by clicking here. To hear McGregor’s reaction, watch either of his TV appearances that followed the melee by clicking here and/or here.
UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 goes down live from the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday, August 20, 2016. Join us here at MMANews.com this Saturday for live round-by-round results coverage of the UFC 202 pay-per-view.
H/T to BloodyElbow.com for transcribing the above Dana White quotes from his TMZ Sports interview.