Way back in August of 2016, Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz engaged in a pre-fight scuffle at a UFC 202 press conference, one that ended with McGregor throwing full cans of Monster energy drink into the crowd at Diaz and his entourage.
“The word is in this thing somebody was injured, so there’s going to be a lawsuit,” UFC president Dana White said shortly after. “Who knows how it’s all going to play out. Somebody’s filing a lawsuit. The wheels are already in motion on it.”
And now we’re getting our first look at this lawsuit, which was filed by security guard William Pegg at the start of March. Pegg claims he was hit in the shoulder by one of McGregor’s cans and is looking for $95,000 — $5000 to cover medical expenses and $90,000 in damages.
According to The Blast, the security guard had an interesting way of calculating that last number: he estimated the amount of money McGregor made off the Nate Diaz rematch ($15 million) and then divided that number by how many significant strikes Nate landed on Conor in their fight(166). That came out to $90,000 per strike, so in Pegg’s mind that seems like a fair price for taking damage during what turned out to be a pretty successful promotional stunt to push the fight. McGregor vs. Diaz 2 is currently the biggest selling UFC pay-per-view of all time.
McGregor and Diaz have already ponied up some decent cash (at least for us non-millionaires) over the incident, with the Nevada State Athletic commission fining them $25,000 and $15,000 respectively for their behavior during the press conference. That was after McGregor’s lawyers fought to have the fine dropped from $150,000. We’d say anyone who ended up getting hurt in the crossfire probably deserves something, but the legal system will decide if Pegg’s unique math adds up.
They’re already taking his case seriously, though: McGregor’s attempt to have the case dismissed was refused, meaning Pegg will have his day in court.
