Conor McGregor reaches plea deal on assault charges, gets community service

Nearly four months after Conor McGregor turned himself into the Brooklyn police, the 30-year-old MMA fighter returned to court Thursday to enter his plea and accept the punishment for his role in the April 5 brawl at the Barclays Center.

McGregor accepted a plea deal

McGregor and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office reached a deal that allows McGregor to avoid jail time completely, and required him to plead guilty to one count of disorderly conduct, serve community service, and attend anger management classes.

BREAKING: Plea deal reached for Conor McGregor. All felony counts dismissed. Plea for disorderly conduct.
Five days community service.
Anger management classes and three order of protections

— Robin Schiller (@11SchillRob) July 26, 2018

Conor McGregor and Cian Cowley have both pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. The guilty plea has been accepted by the Brooklyn court.
Anger management programme will be 1-3 days.
Conditional discharge if they keep the peace for one year

— Robin Schiller (@11SchillRob) July 26, 2018

McGregor will also have to pay restitution for the damages to the bus. Cian Cowley, a fellow MMA fighter who was involved in the brawl and charged along with McGregor, also reached a plea deal.

According to ESPN, McGregor’s guilty plea for this deal will leave him with no criminal record and won’t affect his travel visa. If McGregor hadn’t reached a plea deal, he was facing 12 criminal charges and could have spent up to seven years in prison.

McGregor attacked a UFC team bus

All those possible charges stemmed from an incident that occurred just before UFC 223 in April. McGregor and several of his associates attacked a bus carrying UFC fighters and employees, and McGregor himself was caught on video throwing chairs and a guardrail into the bus. UFC fighters Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg both suffered minor injuries during the altercation, and were subsequently pulled from their upcoming fights at UFC 223.

McGregor surrendered to the police the next day, and was seen being led out of the precinct in handcuffs before he was arraigned and formally charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of felony criminal mischief, all of which have been dismissed as part of his plea deal.

McGregor hasn’t fought in the UFC since November 2016, and he was stripped of his lightweight title at UFC 223 due to inactivity. Taking a plea deal and avoiding jail time could allow him to return to fighting before the end of 2018.