UPDATED: 13:45 p.m.AEST: UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been arrested.
The New York Police Department has confirmed McGregor is in custody over the Brooklyn attack that left several other fighters injured.
UPDATED 11:42 a.m. AEST: ESPN is now reporting that two fights in this Sunday UFC 223, have been cancelled.
The US sports channel says the Michael Chiesa/Anthony Pettis and Ray Borg/Brandon Moreno bouts are off. Chiesa has withdrawn because of the injuries suffered when his bus was attacked by Conor McGregor (see details below).
Borg was also injured.
FRIDAY APRIL 6: There’s no sign yet of UFC megastar Connor McGregor after he attacked a bus carrying rival fighters in New York.
The Irishman and his posse stormed the Barclay Centre arena around 1.30pm local time. Journalists from McGregor’s own media publication, TheMacLife.com, had let them in to the arena after a media event.
The fighter and his team threw bins, trolleys and whatever they could get their hands on, at a bus carrying half the roster of Sunday’s UFC 223. Video shows McGregor throwing a trolley at the bus’s windows, which shattered – leaving fighter Michael Chiesa with multiple cuts to his face.
The incident was recorded by many people both inside and outside the bus, as well as the centre’s security cameras.
yoooooo… first time seeing this one. Conor has legit lost his mind. pic.twitter.com/XcLFd2FIMo
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) April 5, 2018
Women’s strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas, was on the bus. She left the scene distraught and was seen heading back to her hotel.
Chiesa and Namajunas are yet to confirm if they’ll compete on Sunday’s card.
The madness comes after undefeated UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov had an altercation with Conor’s close training partner, Artem Lobov, at a media event earlier in the week.
Lobov was scheduled to fight on Sunday’s card against Alex Carcesas. That fight’s been cancelled as a result of Lobov being a part of the melee.
UFC president Dana White, has condemned the attack, calling it “the most disgusting thing that has ever happened in the history of the company.”
He’s told industry website, MMA Junkie, that police have now issued an arrest warrant for McGregor.
New York only allowed professional mixed martial arts in the state, since November 2016. Fighters and fans will be closely watching the state’s reaction to this latest scandal. – Nate Warburton