What started out as a celebration for his teammate’s victory soon devolved into UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor going after referee Marc Goddard at the Bellator 187 event in Ireland on Friday.
The altercation occurred at the end of the fight after SBG teammate Charlie Ward knocked out opponent John Redmond at a co-promoted event with Bellator and BAMMA.
McGregor jumped the fence to celebrate Ward’s victory but it appears referee Marc Goddard attempted to eject him from the cage and ultimately bumped the UFC lightweight champion before a melee nearly broke out. McGregor was not a corner man for Ward and wasn’t allowed in the cage yet until after the referee was able to check on the fighters, which is what may have led to Goddard’s reaction.
@TheNotoriousMMA jumps the cage for his teammate Charlie Ward and its all chaos. #MMA #ConorMcGregor #Bellator187 pic.twitter.com/gu9LZL8ORf
— Dutch Fight Network (@DutchFightNet) November 10, 2017
McGregor can be seen charging at Goddard and screaming while pointing his finger at the official as security, fighters and other referees quickly get between the two of them before the situation exploded.
McGregor continuously shouts in Goddard’s direction while circling around the cage until he finally exits at the end of the video.
It’s unclear if the bump from Goddard caused McGregor to go after him or if it was the referee ejecting him from the cage, but either way this is the second time in a matter of weeks the UFC champion has had an altercation with the referee.
A few weeks back at the UFC Fight Night event in Poland, McGregor was sitting cage side to watch teammate Artem Lobov in his bout against Andre Fili when he began circling the Octagon and shouting instructions. Goddard admonished McGregor during the fight and told him to sit back in his seat because fighters are only allowed three corner men during a contest and the UFC lightweight champion was not one of them.
Now McGregor has had a second incident with the referee and it’s unclear at this time if there will be repercussions for his actions on Friday.
