7 Biggest Conor McGregor Controversies
2. Assualting Referee Marc Goddard At Bellator 187
At Bellator 187 in Dublin, Ireland, McGregor's teammate Charlie Ward had his first fight since being released by the UFC against John Redmond. With just seconds remaining in the first round, Ward landed a big right hand that dropped Redmond. This is where the confusion starts.
As referee Marc Goddard got between the fighters, most in attendance, including the commentary team, thought the fight had been stopped. Then assuming the fight was over, McGregor scaled the cage and ran over his teammate to celebrate. In the ensuing chaos, Goddard attempted to restore order and touched Conor.
McGregor then furiously charged towards the referee, pushing him. He then continued to argue with officials, inadvertently pushing one into the still-downed Redmond. As it later emerged, Goddard hadn't stopped the fight by that point and had only stood between the two fighters to signify the end of the round. When he initially went over to McGregor it was in an attempt to communicate that the fight wasn't over.
After being escorted out of the cage, a furious McGregor went on to slap a Bellator employee who attempted to prevent him from reentering.
In typical McGregor style, The Notorious apologised for his actions that day via a selfie on Instagram.