Either side of the release of his lucrative film, Conor McGregor has found himself shadowed by controversy. Both came at events at which he went from spectator to central stage: his use of the word "faggot" in a behind the scenes video with Artem Lobov drew criticism and eventually an apology on The Late, Late Show. On Friday night, McGregor stormed the Octagon at a Bellator event featuring his friend and compatriot Charlie Ward and confronted referee Marc Goddard,
He later tried to re-enter the arena, and slapped a Bellator official when he was denied entry.
McGregor was completely out of control, and will now face calls for a suspension given his intervention at the 3Arena. Dana White has set a precedence for this, given this response to fighter Jason High's pushing of a referee:
As soon as I heard, he's done. You touch the referee, you're done. It's over. You don't do it, I don't care how mad you are, how upset you are. It's unforgivable. Never come back, ever. Ever.
McGregor has been silent on the matter up to today, in which he explained his behaviour with a tweet he later deleted. His problem seemed to be a perception that the referee was too slow to declare the fight over.
Bloke KO'd on floor bout a minute straight and ref trying to say fights not over Conor. That's when I lost it. Fuck yous all.
