Conor McGregor fined €135,000 over press conference altercation

Irish UFC star Conor McGregor has been fined $150,000 (about €135,000) for his altercation with Nate Diaz during a pre-fight press conference at UFC 202 in August.

McGregor has also been ordered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to perform 50 hours of community service for the incident.

The fine represents 5 per cent of the record $3 million purse McGregor received for winning the fight against Nate Diaz by majority decision.

McGregor has six months to complete the community service imposed upon him by the commission. He has the right to appeal.

McGregor and Diaz were involved in the melee at a testy press conference in Las Vegas three days before the fight. Tensions ran high and then boiled over at the event.

Video showed Diaz leave the stage at the press conference and exchange verbal taunts with McGregor, who had arrived 30 minutes late.

Diaz then throw a water bottle.

McGregor, the UFC featherweight champion, responded by throwing a series of bottles and cans towards Diaz and his team, who threw items back towards the stage.

Apology

The Irish star attended the disciplinary hearing via phone on Monday and admitted he “acted wrong” and would “learn from that”.

He said: “I was acting very rapidly and it just got out of hand. This fight had everything on the line for me. This was the highest-paid fight I’d ever been in.”

According to the Nevada attorney general’s office, one MGM security officer sustained a minor injury from a can that was thrown by McGregor.

Diaz, who earned $2m from the fight, has yet to appear before the commission for his disciplinary hearing.

He was originally scheduled to do so on Monday, but was granted a delay.

Guardian service