Conor McGregor was apparently supposed to be part of UFC 219, but his recent controversy at Bellator 187 forced UFC executives to scrap these plans.
The repercussions of Conor McGregor’s actions at Bellator 187 in Dublin late last week are getting worse by the day. Now, his supposed MMA return at UFC 219 in Las Vegas has apparently been scrapped, upon the decision of UFC executives.
“The Notorious” stormed the Bellator cage right after teammate Charlie Ward won via first-round knockout. In the heat of the moment of his celebration, McGregor shoved presiding referee Marc Goddard, and slapped a Bellator official. The entire incident was caught on video.
The Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation was the governing body that was tasked to oversee the event. And according to its director Mike Mazzulli, he already had a conversation with some UFC executives regarding McGregor’s sanctions.
“I had some executives from UFC contact me within two hours after what occurred and they basically said to me that it’s completely unacceptable in their eyes and that they will be doing something,” Mazzulli said on Monday’s MMA Hour episode (transcript via MMA Mania).
“They did inform me that he was set to be on the December 30th card and he will not be on it. So I do commend UFC to some extent for doing that. On the other hand, I will be looking at it, I will be speaking to my attorney's upon returning to the United States to see if I have any action."
UFC 219 has yet to have a headliner fight, and if McGregor would have been on it, it could be expected that he would bannering the event in a unification title fight against Tony Ferguson, as stated by UFC president Dana White himself.