Conor McGregor's wallet takes hit from $150K fine for water-bottle melee
Amount represents 5% of fighter's money earned in bout with Nate Diaz
UFC star Conor McGregor has been fined $150,000 US by the Nevada Athletic Commission for a profanity-laced bottle-throwing fracas with rival Nate Diaz during a pre-fight news conference in August in Las Vegas, officials said.
The commission on Monday unanimously approved the penalty representing five percent of the $3 million that McGregor was paid for his Aug. 20 win over Diaz in UFC 202.
Half the fine and a portion of the 50 hours of community service that McGregor was ordered to perform are expected to go toward producing an anti-bullying public service announcement, Commissioner Pat Lundvall said Tuesday.
"He acknowledged that what he did was wrong, put the sport in a bad light, and violated our rules and regulations," Lundvall said. She noted the other half of the fine will go into the Nevada state general fund.
McGregor, 28, was represented by a lawyer at a Nevada Athletic Commission hearing and answered questions by telephone from Ireland, where he is training for UFC 205 in November in New York.
Diaz, who was paid $2 million for the bout against McGregor, still faces possible commission discipline over the Aug. 17 melee that erupted after McGregor arrived late and exchanged words with Diaz, who began to leave early.
Video showed Diaz throw a water bottle toward the stage and McGregor grabbing and throwing bottles and cans toward Diaz at the back of the theater before security guards and UFC officials restored order.
A complaint by the Nevada state attorney general's office said a security officer received a minor injury when he was struck by a beverage can.