UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor caused quite a ruckus when he hopped the cage to celebrate with teammate Charlie Ward as he defeated John Redmond at Bellator 187.
Andy Ryan is the coach for Redmond and he believes Bellator MMA holds some blame for the whole fiasco.
“That’s Conor’s good friend in there that has won, so of course emotions are going to be running high. For me, I think the promotion should have Conor and his guests in a better position,” explained Ryan to MMA Fighting. “Conor was standing directly behind us. He wasn’t interfering with our cornering or anything like that, but there was no event security around him whatsoever apart from the people that he had with him. I think it meant a lot for them to have him at their show, and they didn’t think about what would happen if things boiled over. A fan jumped into the cage during the last fight of the night and the security dealt with the situation straight away. They weren’t treating Conor like anyone else that jumped in the cage and that’s probably why things were able escalate to the level that it did.”
Redmond issued a statement of his own alongside referee Marc Goddard and ABC head Mike Mazzulli, but Redmond says the situation caused his fight to be prematurely stopped.
Ryan also states that when McGregor hopped into the cage, the action influenced the call made by the referee in the fight.
“With all this going on, Marc Goddard hadn’t got a chance to talk to the commission to see what was happening. He had jumped in just before the round ended, and with everything that was going on, he hadn’t got time to establish whether the fight had been brought to an end yet,” said Ryan. “He was trying to get some order back in the cage and that’s why he said, ‘the fight’s not over, lads, you’re going to have to leave the cage.’ That’s when all the mayhem happened. I think Conor thought the fight was going to continue and that’s when he went over to him and had words.”
McGregor has yet to receive any punishment at this time from the UFC or any governing body.
