Yahoo Sports Conor McGregor Scores Drastically Reduced Punishment for Bottle Throwing Melee
Conor McGregor‘s challenge of the disciplinary action against him for a press conference altercation with Nate Diaz went before the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) on Wednesday, where his case was briefly reheard and revised sanctions were agreed upon.
Becoming one of the biggest outside the Octagon stories of the year in 2016, McGregor and Diaz turned a UFC 202 press conference into a water-bottle-throwing melee ahead of their fight in the Octagon.
McGregor phoned in to an NAC hearing to answer for his part in the fracas, which saw him, Diaz, and Diaz’s team hurling water bottles at each other, bringing the UFC 202 pre-fight press conference to an abrupt end. After much deliberation, which resulted in shifting away from a proposed fine of $300,000, the Nevada commission settled on the somewhat lesser sanctions of a $75,000 fine and 50 hours of community service to produce an anti-bullying campaign, upon which the commission put a value of roughly $75,000.
Though he was amiable during his disciplinary hearing, McGregor didn’t take kindly to the punishment, later telling Rolling Stone, “I don’t see Nevada in my future, for the foreseeable future, is how I see it.”
In the months following the initial hearing, McGregor's team appealed the sanctions and came to terms on an adjudication agreement. The agreement presented to the NAC on Wednesday was the same initial discipline that the Attorney General's office recommended to the commission when McGregor's case was first heard in October of last year.
Deputy Attorney General Caroline Bateman and NAC Executive Director Bob Bennett presented the adjudication agreement, which called for a $25,000 fine, 25 hours of community service, and reimbursing the Attorney General's costs in the case. Following a brief discussion, the commission voted unanimously to accept the agreement, which represented a drastic reduction from the initial $75,000 fine and $75,000 value placed on 50 hours of community service to produce an anti-bullying campaign.
When Diaz went before the commission in December, he was swiftly issued a $50,000 fine and 50 hours of community service. Though Diaz and his attorney signed off on the agreement at that point, NAC Chairman Anthony Marnell volunteered the idea that Diaz's case should also be reconsidered.
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“I believe that it is appropriate to put in a motion for reconsideration on our next agenda for Nate Diaz. He did not contest his adjudication, but in trying to keep things fair and equal, I believe he needs the opportunity to have a re-hearing granted,” Marnell said to the rest of the commissioners.
“I think we should at least grant that fighter that opportunity, if he would choose to come back before us to keep this issue between these two fighter on a very even and equal playing field. I will probably be reaching out to him and putting that on a future agenda.”
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