Conor McGregor told Dana White that he felt his actions in Brooklyn on Thursday evening were justified.
McGregor and some of his 30 strong entourage were captured on camera vandalising a bus full of MMA fighters and injured some of those fighters at the UFC 223 Media Day on Thursday, which led to three fights being pulled from the Saturday night card.
The Dubliner spent his night and early morning in police custody as a result of his actions and was subsequently charged with Assault and Criminal Mischief.
UFC President Dana White had a conversation with the sport’s most celebrated star in the meantime, where McGregor claimed that ‘this had to be done.’
“The worst conversation we’ve ever had,” said White on The First Things First Show. “It’s not that I don’t think he understood what happened, it’s that he justified it…’This had to be done.’
He did, however, express regret at the injuries sustained by the likes of Chiesa and Borg.
White also confirmed McGregor’s motives for the attack. It was indeed, inspired by a beef with Russian fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov after he confronted McGregor’s training partner Artem Lobov earlier this week.
McGregor went to some lengths to organise this attack.
“When you bring in 20 hoodlums, who flew in from Ireland, to do this at our event. There’s nothing like this that has ever happened. Conor flew them all in on a private jet to do this.
“It has nothing to do with him getting stripped. Artem Lobov got into an altercation with Khabib and his team, so when Conor found about it, he loaded up the plane…and co-ordinated this attack.
"Conor and I talked through text yesterday. Obviously the worst conversation we've ever had. But we talked yesterday before he turned himself in." — @DanaWhite pic.twitter.com/xz1QjB299u
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) April 6, 2018
"When Conor found out, he loaded up the plane full of guys from Ireland, flew over here & coordinated this attack."@DanaWhite explains what lead to the McGregor incident at Barclays pic.twitter.com/7OcYsI1C1B
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) April 6, 2018
