Coach: Conor McGregor’s Chance To Return ‘Very, Very High’
Conor McGregor‘s legal proceedings in regards to his UFC 223 media day bus attack are now behind him.
This morning (Thurs., July 26, 2018) it was announced that a plea deal had been accepted for McGregor. The Irishman will not be charged with any felony counts, instead pleading guilty to disorderly conduct.
He will be forced to do five days of community service, take anger management classes and honor three orders of protection against Ray Borg, Jason Ledvetter, and Michael Chiesa. He’s not allowed to go near any of those men until 2020.
McGregor will also pay damages done to the bus.
Back in April McGregor stormed UFC 223 media day and attacked a pair of fighter buses holding fighters on the weekend’s card. McGregor threw a dolly at one of the windows and shattered it, which injured several fighters and forced them off the card.
“”The Notorious” was targeting UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, earlier in that week Nurmagomedov had confronted McGregor’s teammate, Artem Lobov, at the fighter hotel along with his entourage. This upset McGregor, who was seeking physical retribution with the Russian. It’s perhaps likely they’ll get to settle their differences once and for all inside the Octagon with the UFC’s 155-pound title on the line.
McGregor’s striking coach, Owen Roddy, recently spoke to MMA Fighting and revealed that McGregor is eager to get back into the cage now that his legal troubles are behind him:
“That’s what we all envisaged would happen, and it’s just great to be able to get back to doing what we love to do,” Roddy said.
“Conor has been eager to get back out there; he’s been eager to get something in front of him, to set a date and to push for fight. I think now that it’s out of the way, the potential for Conor to get back in there is very, very high.”
“”Mystic Mac” hasn’t fought in the UFC since November of 2016 when he defeated Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden. The following year he made his professional boxing debut in a money fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., in which the Irishman was unsuccessful as he lost via 10th round TKO.
Just when it looked like McGregor could be making his return earlier this year, his incident at UFC 223 essentially put his fight career on hold, as Roddy describes it:
“Everything was put on hold because of this. We all had hoped that we would get the news that we got today, but of course, nothing could have been set in stone before the decision came through.
“Anything could have happened, so everything had to be put on hold until Conor got this sorted. I know we are all eager to see what’s coming next and I’m sure something’s going to lined up.”
As for what Roddy thinks is next, a fight with Nurmagomedov before the end of the year sounds like the plan:
“That seems about right,” Roddy said. “I’m sure it’s all going to be negotiated now. I would like to see that fight this year and I think the frontrunner to be Conor’s opponent for his return is Khabib.
“As I said before, he’s eager to get something going, he’s been training hard. He’s been doing all sorts of wrestling and jiu-jitsu — he’s just been enjoying his training. I’m sure he’s going to strike a deal with the UFC, and whenever he’s in there, we’ll be prepared.”
