DIAZ AND MCGREGOR FACING DISCPLINE FOR WATER BOTTLE THROWING
The Diaz-McGregor saga continues as both men will face discipline from the Nevada Athletic Commission for their water bottle throwing incident prior to UFC 202.
According to Brett Okamoto at ESPN.com, the Nevada Attorney General’s office has filed complaints against Diaz and McGregor individually. The complaints state that the conduct of both men as “detrimental to a contest or exhibition of unarmed combat.”
Diaz and McGregor were both part of an incident at the UFC 202 pre-fight press conference that saw both men and Diaz’s camp throwing bottles of water across the room at each other, over the heads of press and fans.
The most comparable precedent for such an incident is when Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier got into a physical altercation at a press conference announcing their fight that was originally scheduled for UFC 178. The incident also occurred in Las Vegas and Cormier threw his shoe towards Jones after the scuffle. Both men ended up being fined 10% of their announced purses. A similar fine for McGregor and Diaz would result in $300,000 and $200,000 fines respectively.
McGregor defeated Diaz by majority decision on Aug. 20. No hearing date for the complaints has been set.
Hiscoe’s Analysis: This is no surprise as things got completely out of hand at that press conference and the NAC isn’t going to sit back and allow that. The NAC has a history of being harsh on the Diaz brothers and, considering the fact that it was Diaz’s camp that threw the first bottle, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was punished more harshly or if Jake Shields or other members of his camp were called in for discipline as well. There hasn’t been any word of punishment from the UFC itself. The company benefitted most from the incident, which put it over as the most bought pay-per-view in company history, but I’m sure they would prefer to do business without the threat of litigation and the negative image these type of incidents send to the mainstream public. As an observer, these incidents are fun to watch, but they need to be few and far between and when someone gets hurt and sues the company, it won’t be worth it in the long run.
TUESDAY NOTEBOOK…
-Alistair Overeem is medically suspended indefinitely following his knockout loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 203. He is to receive a cat scan and MRI within 5 days of the fight and the suspension will be a minimum of 60 days. C.M. Punk is also medically suspended for 45 days, with 30 days of no contact.
-Edmund Tarverdyan and Fabricio Werdum were verbally warned by the Ohio Athletic Commission after an altercation in the cage following Werdum’s decision win over Tarverdyan pupil Travis Browne that saw Werdum throw a front kick at Tarverdyan who was yelling profanities at him. (SOURCE LINK)
-On his Twitter, Jon Jones praised Heavyweight Championship Stipe Miocic, calling him “legit” and expressed interest in fighting him.
-Erik Perez vs. Felipe Arantes has been booked for the UFC show in Mexico City on Nov. 5.
-James Gallagher will meet Kirill Medvedovski in a featherweight fight at Bellator 164 from Tel Aviv, Israel on Nov. 11.
CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S NEWS DIGEST: MONDAY NEWS DIGEST 9/12: Rockhold comes to terms with UFC to main event Fight Night in November against Souza, UFC 203 payday info on Punk and more, Fedor, Lawler-Cerrone
(MMATorch’s Daily News Digest features the top story of the day with added analysis, plus smaller tidbits in the News Notes section. Mike Hiscoe has a background in film criticism and previously wrote for the DVD Town and Movie Metropolis websites. His passion for Mixed Martial Arts goes back to 2005, but it was in the promotion for UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie that he really got hooked.”This is my house, I build it,” is still among the all-time great UFC promos. You can follow Mike on social media under the tag @mikehiscoe. He now provides his experienced writing and perspective on live MMA events for MMATorch.)
Leave a Reply