Conor McGregor’s much hyped court date has come and gone without any resolution to the assault and felony criminal mischief charges he faces. Many were expecting a quick open and shut case with the UFC superstar and his gym teammate Cian Cowley reaching a plea deal with the New York district attorneys. That’s still the most likely outcome, but no deal has been reached thus far and a new court date has been set for July 26. Thursday’s time in court amounted to a whole 45 seconds.
Good morning from the Kings County Supreme Criminal Court. Team McGregor is here. pic.twitter.com/nSYp7q41x1
— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) June 14, 2018
“I regret my actions that led to today, I understand the seriousness of this matter and I am hopeful this will get worked out,” McGregor said in a short statement before reporters on the court steps.
Conor McGregor makes a statement after his brief court hearing #UFC pic.twitter.com/upL6V2rED2
— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) June 14, 2018
Spoke briefly to Conor McGregor’s manager @AudieAttar outside the courthouse about today’s hearing and what’s next in terms of the negotiations with the UFC. Here you go: pic.twitter.com/NtudaHRPG8
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 14, 2018
“Today we’re here to focus on court, we’re not here to focus on any future plans until we handle this matter,” McGregor’s manager Audie Attar told MMA Fighting. “Right now we’re in negotiations with the district attorney so we’re going to focus on that and we’ll focus on the future later.”
McGregor has been embroiled in legal trouble since UFC 223 in April, when he and a group of his SBG Dublin teammates stormed the Barclays Center looking for Khabib Nurmagomedov, a fellow lightweight fighter who had confronted McGregor’s teammate and close friend Artem Lobov. In something right out of a bad backstage WWE no rules match, McGregor tossed a metal dolly through the window of a bus transporting fighters back to their hotel, cutting lightweight Michael Chiesa’s head and getting glass in the eye of flyweight Ray Borg.
For those who were hoping this would be the end of the whole criminal charges saga, it looks like we’ll have to wait another month for that. And until this case is resolved, the UFC remains in a holding pattern regarding McGregor’s future. It’s clear they (and McGregor) want a fight with new lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov to go down later in 2018, but with the possibility of a felony charge hovering over McGregor, nothing official can be done until the case is settled.
