The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced on Wednesday that they have approved a settlement agreement with UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. McGregor was punished for his actions when he purposely threw a water bottle and energy drink at Nate Diaz prior to their UFC 202 news conference last August.
Originally, the NSAC had penalized the Irishman $150,000 and 50 hours of community service for his unsportsmanlike actions. The agreement reduces McGregor’s penalty to $25,000 and 25 hours of community service with additional court costs.
McGregor’s attorney, Jennifer Goldstein, was present for the NSAC’s decision on Wednesday when reaching a unanimous decision to re-open the case. Goldstein said “the line was a little broken,” and McGregor repeatedly apologized for his display.
Nevada deputy attorney general, Caroline Bateman, said that McGregor’s community service will target anti-bullying issues and is to make an appearance at a gym of his choice to talk to kids about the subject matter.
UFC is no stranger to prized fighters having outrageous antics during press conferences before a huge fight. The McGregor-Diaz incident was compared to former champion Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier’s press conference brawl which sparked the NSAC to hand out a severe penalty on McGregor.
Since this debut, fans and non-fans of the MMA universe were instantly introduced to the loudmouth, cocky brash that is Conor McGregor. Popping up in headlines across the sports universe of his claims of being an unstoppable force, it was pretty hard not to know who he was in some capacity.
Now ahead of his megafight with undefeated Floyd Mayweather, the settlement with the NSAC does allow him to pursue his boxing license and proceed with the fight later this year. However, Dana White needs to regain control of his fighters when incidents like this occur. People want to watch their best athletes competing and not have their matches hindered due to unprofessional actions the company has experienced before.
It’s best to have the beatings occur in the octagon and not handed down by the NSAC.
