CONOR McGregor has been slapped with a whopping $150,000 fine and ordered to complete 50 hours of community service following his bottle and can throwing melee with rival Nate Diaz in August.
The Irishman, who hurled bottles of water and unopened cans of Monster Energy during a near-riot at the UFC 202 pre-fight press conference, was up in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Monday.
Initially, it looked like McGregor was set to be handed a $25,000 fine, 25 hours’ community service and five hours of media training, following a recommendation from the Nevada attorney general’s representative.
But the Commission opted to come down harder on the UFC’s biggest star with commissioner Pat Lundvall recommending a fine of five percent of McGregor’s $3million fight purse ($150,000), and commissioner Michon Martin calling for a 10 percent fine ($300,000).
Eventually after deliberations from the panel, including comments from fellow commissioner Francisco Aguilar and NSAC chairman Anthony Marnell saying they weren’t comfortable with such hefty financial punishments, they eventually settled on a fine of $150,000, but with a twist.
Half of McGregor’s fine will be put towards an anti-bullying video campaign for the state of Nevada, featuring McGregor himself. His appearance will constitute 10 of the 50 hours of community service he’ll also have to undertake as part of his punishment.
Appearing over the phone, McGregor said: “I acted wrong, and all I will say is I’m sorry for this. This was a high stakes fight for me.”
McGregor defeated Diaz by decision after a back-and-forth battle and is now set to face UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden in a champion versus champion superfight at UFC 205 in November.
Diaz, who started the incident by throwing the first bottle, will face the Commission at a later date.
Watch the full incident, as it unfolded live, here. (Warning: Contains strong language)
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