5 most controversial UFC moments of 2018

#2 Conor McGregor’s bus attack at UFC 223

Conor McGregor was arrested following his wild attack on a bus at UFC 223

UFC 223 was already turning into a strange show before the events of April 5th. The event was supposed to see a new UFC Lightweight champion crowned – Conor McGregor had finally been stripped of the title and Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson were supposed to face off to decide the new titleholder.

But Ferguson got injured and so in a strange move, current Featherweight champ Max Holloway was pegged as his replacement against Khabib.

That was just the beginning, though. McGregor’s training partner Artem Lobov was supposed to face Alex Caceres on the undercard of the show, but on April 3rd, he was confronted and threatened by Khabib after making some questionable remarks about how the Russian would favour against McGregor in an interview.

McGregor was furious about the confrontation, and incredibly, he chose to do something about it. Along with some more of his friends, ‘The Notorious One’ flew straight to Brooklyn, and on April 5th, they entered the Barclays Center to confront Nurmagomedov.

Khabib – who had been doing promotional work with the other fighters on the card – was on a bus, and so McGregor and his crew decided to launch an astonishing attack on the vehicle, culminating when the Irishman threw a metal dolly at a window, shattering it.

The attack caused injuries to Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg, forcing their fights on UFC 223 to be cancelled, while Lobov’s fight was cancelled too due to his part in the mayhem.

McGregor was eventually arrested by the NYPD, charged with assault and criminal mischief, and ended up pleading No Contest to a charge of disorderly conduct, resulting in a sentence of community service.

Nothing quite like it had ever happened in MMA before – it was simply one of the wildest incidents in the sport’s history. Perhaps most controversial, though?

The fact that the UFC – after condemning McGregor at the time of the incident – used the footage of the attack to promote the Irishman’s eventual fight with Nurmagomedov – who fought late replacement Al Iaquinta when Holloway was forced out and ended up winning the title.