- Conor McGregor has been charged by the New York Police Department over an unprecedented attack at a UFC press conference on Thursday.
- Two UFC fighters were hospitalized in the incident and are unable to fight at Saturday's big UFC 223 show.
- McGregor's friend Artem Lobov, who was also scheduled to fight this weekend, has been withdrawn from the event as punishment for the attack.
- McGregor is due to appear in court in New York on Friday.
The UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been formally charged with three counts of assault and one of criminal mischief, according to the New York Police Department.
McGregor, a former two-time UFC world champion, stormed a UFC press conference in New York City on Thursday.
The Irishman was recorded on video throwing guard rails at a bus carrying UFC fighters and smashing a window in an attack that left two athletes requiring hospital treatment.
"The Conor McGregor charges include three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief," an NYPD spokesman confirmed to Business Insider.
McGregor was taken into custody after turning himself in to the 78th Precinct in Brooklyn. The NYPD spokesman told Business Insider that McGregor was due to appear in court on Friday.
Watch a video of the chaos here:
The Hulk has nothing on him! CONOR SMASH!! https://t.co/vP15QB7ilC #TMZ #TMZSports pic.twitter.com/1MvcCDaA69
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) April 5, 2018
UFC is in New York to promote the UFC 223 pay-per-view event at Brookyln's Barclays Center on Saturday.
Two fighters, Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg, required medical treatment after the incident. Borg suffered an eye injury from shattered glass, while Chiesa suffered multiple cuts to the face, according to the MMA Fighting journalist Ariel Helwani.
As a result, Chiesa and Borg will be unable to fight Saturday. McGregor's friend Artem Lobov, who was due to fight Alex Caceres on Saturday but was accused of participating in the attack, has been withdrawn from the event as punishment, reducing the number of fights this weekend to 10 bouts from a planned 13.
UFC issued the following statement late Thursday:
"Thursday afternoon, following the UFC 223 media day at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, an incident in the facility injured two athletes on Saturday’s card, forcing them to be pulled from the event.
"Lightweight Michael Chiesa, who received several facial cuts, was deemed unfit to fight by the New York State Athletic Commission and the UFC medical team, and he was removed from his bout against Anthony Pettis.
"Flyweight Ray Borg, who was scheduled to face Brandon Moreno, was deemed unfit to fight as well due to multiple cornea abrasions.
"Also removed from the card was the featherweight bout between Artem Lobov and Alex Caceres due to Lobov’s involvement in the incident.
"UFC 223 will proceed as scheduled with 10 bouts."
