Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor has been arrested in Miami Beach on charges of strong-arm robbery and criminal mischief.
McGregor was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami tonight after an incident that allegedly took place early in the day outside the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel. The Miami Herald first reported the news.
Around 10:30 p.m. ET Monday, Miami-Dade County’s (Fla.) Corrections and Rehabilitation site no longer listed McGregor as an inmate in custody at the facility. He had been arrested and booked with bonds totaling $12,500.
McGregor allegedly took the phone from a man taking photos of him outside the hotel and smashed it. According to Miami-Dade County jail’s website, McGregor’s charges of strong-arm robbery and criminal mischief of $1,000 or more came with bonds of $7,500 and $5,000, respectively. Both are felony charges.
A spokeswoman for McGregor’s attorney, Miami-based Samuel Rabin, issued a statement to MMA Junkie that said: “Early this morning Conor McGregor was involved in a minor altercation involving a cell phone that resulted in a call to law enforcement. Mr. McGregor appreciates the response of law enforcement and pledges his full cooperation.”
UFC officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the promotion has not yet made any formal statements on McGregor’s arrest.
According to McGregor’s arrest report (which can be viewed here): “The victim and the defendant were exiting the Fountainbleau hotel and the victim attempted to take a picture of the defendant with his cell phone. The defendant slapped the victim’s phone out of his hand, causing it to fall to the floor. The defendant then stomped on the victim’s phone several times, damaging it. The defendant then picked up the victim’s phone and walked away with it, depriving him of it. Victim stated the phone was valued at $1,000. The defendant was located and arrested.”
By late Monday, McGregor had been assigned a court case number in Miami-Dade County’s criminal justice database, and his attorney told USA TODAY Sports that McGregor is expected to be arraigned in 21 days.
This latest mishap is part of what is growing to be a pattern of legal woes for McGregor.
His most significant incident came in April when he infamously attacked a bus with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and several other fighters inside. He threw a dolly through the window of the bus, which caused several people to be hurt and McGregor to be arrested.
McGregor just recently completed community service at churches to clear the bus attack charges, but just days later, he finds himself in hot water again.
McGregor won the UFC’s featherweight title in December 2015 with a 13-second knockout of longtime champion Jose Aldo. He then took a pair of welterweight fights with Nate Diaz in 2016 and won one and lost one before going after the lightweight title in November that year.
At UFC 205, he became the first fighter in UFC history to hold two belts at the same time when he stopped Eddie Alvarez to win the 155-pound strap. The UFC later stripped his featherweight title.
But McGregor never defended his lightweight belt, either, and instead took a highly lucrative boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in August 2017. McGregor lost the fight to Mayweather by TKO in the 10th round, but cemented his status as a global sports superstar.
The UFC removed McGregor’s lightweight belt, which was won by Nurmagomedov, and that set up the showdown with the fighters after McGregor got past the legal ramifications of his bus attack.
But the trouble continued at UFC 229 this past October. Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in the fourth round, denying the Irishman in his chance to win a title back. And afterward, a post-fight melee started by Nurmagomedov left both of them fined and suspended.
McGregor’s suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission will be up in April, and he’ll be eligible to fight again. There’s no telling yet what this current potential legal brouhaha in Florida will do to his time table for a return to the cage, but his previous legal trouble in New York did not include probationary term.
Stay tuned for more on this story as it develops.
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George_Jefferson on March 12nd, 2019 at 00:56 UTC »
At least he didn't fight a bus this time.
VioletVenable on March 12nd, 2019 at 00:25 UTC »
“Criminal mischief” sounds just about right for a buff leprechaun.
thereturnofjagger on March 12nd, 2019 at 00:10 UTC »
turns out they can fookin do sumtin