– Paul Dollery reports from Las Vegas
NATE DIAZ AND Conor McGregor are in “big trouble” as a result of the fracas at Wednesday’s press conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
That’s according to UFC president Dana White, who says the pair will be punished for the chaotic incident which saw water bottles and energy drink cans thrown by members of each of their camps ahead of tomorrow night’s rematch at UFC 202.
The UFC also took the decision to ban each fighters’ entourages from this week’s remaining media events. Only licensed cornermen, normally two or three per fighter, are permitted to accompany them.
White told TMZ that the pair will face sanctions from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The UFC president also revealed that a lawsuit has been filed by an individual who was hurt during the altercation.
“They’re both getting punished. What everybody has got to understand is that we’re overseen by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. I guarantee you that both of these guys are going to get massive fines and there’s probably going to be a hearing too after the fight,” White said.
“There could be suspensions, community service… it’s going to be ugly. And the word is that somebody was injured, so there’s going to be a lawsuit and who knows how it’s all going to play out? Somebody’s filing a lawsuit. All the wheels are in motion on it.”
White added: “It’s going to cost them both a lot of money, a lot of headaches and hassle. They’re both in big trouble.”
Meanwhile, some of the other fighters competing on this weekend’s card at the T-Mobile Arena have been giving their take on the incident, with Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson — who faces Glover Teixiera in the co-main event — among those who wasn’t impressed, despite admitting to being entertained.
“It was entertaining but, honestly, it was unprofessional. It was stupid. It didn’t have to happen. But it did. It got the fans into it more and it just makes for much more of an entertaining show,” Johnson said.
Those sentiments were echoed by Neil Magny ahead of his welterweight bout against Lorenz Larkin: “It was kind of unprofessional, in my opinion. We’re adults here. We’re professional athletes so we need to behave professionally. You’ve got to be handling yourself better than that.”
However, welterweight contender Rick Story seemed to enjoy it: “I just find stuff like that entertaining. That’s it. Even though some people are complaining, they’re still going to watch the fight and it’s going to make more people watch it too. It’s entertaining.”
Story’s opponent, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, said: “The dude [Conor McGregor] showed up late; kind of disrespected Nate, I guess, in a sense. It was probably pretty authentic. You don’t just launch cans at somebody because you’re staging it. It was probably real.”
