Conor McGregor scolded by referee at UFC Fight Night event
Conor McGregor managed to find himself in the middle of the action at UFC Fight Night 118 in Gdansk, Poland on Saturday.
The UFC lightweight champ was sitting cageside for a featherweight bout between Artem “The Russian Hammer” Lobov, his friend and teammate, and Andre “Touchy” Fili — and it didn’t take long for him to make his presence felt.
McGregor, who was not there in any official capacity, was pacing around the cage and yelling instructions at Lobov throughout the fight.
Artem Lobov walks into the cage and they cut to Conor McGregor roaming cageside telling him to attack Andre Fili’s body. PME coming up.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 21, 2017
Coach @TheNotoriousMMA. #UFCGdansk pic.twitter.com/MbEiD7HpCi
— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2017
After a while, referee Marc Goddard had seen enough and gave McGregor an earful, telling him to “act professional” and return to his seat.
MARC GODDARD JUST SCOLDED CONOR MCGREGOR!
"WHAT'S GOT INTO YOU MATE? ACT PROFESSIONAL"
LMAO #UFCGdansk— Justin Golightly (@SecretMovesMMA) October 21, 2017
"My bad, my bad" #UFCGdansk @TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/IRjOMKPNtC
— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2017
McGregor obliged, but that didn’t stop him from coaching his teammate until the final bell.
Dominando @TouchyFili a @RusHammer, afuera de la jaula @TheNotoriousMMA no deja de dar indicaciones #UFCGdansk #UFCPorFSN pic.twitter.com/P9svIIhvHV
— Fighting Sports Net (@FSNetwork) October 21, 2017
The champ’s words of encouragement weren’t enough to help the 31-year-old Lobov (13-14-1), who lost to Fili (17-5) via unanimous decision. After the fight, Lobov tweeted that he is contemplating retirement.
Not sure what the future holds dont want to be retiring & coming back a thousand times. Will think about the futue & update.Thank u all
— Artem Lobov (@RusHammerMMA) October 21, 2017
Fili, meanwhile, admitted that the Irishman’s presence and trash-talking got him “10 times more excited,” which was evident when he mocked McGregor’s “Billionaire Strut” before the fight began.
After making a statement with his victory in the Octagon, Fili used his post-fight platform to deliver another one in a heartfelt speech.
Fili: We gotta start treating each other like human beings. There’s only one race — the human race. We need to take care of each other.
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) October 21, 2017