UFC’s Conor McGregor releases first statement after arrest in Miami

MMAfighting.com

Conor McGregor has issued his first remarks since an arrest Monday evening.

The former two-division UFC champion posted a photo with a caption early Tuesday morning, just hours after making bond and being released from Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami.

“Patience in this world is a virtue I continue to work on,” McGregor wrote. “I love my fans dearly. Thank you all.”

McGregor is being charged with strong-armed robbery, a second-degree felony, and criminal mischief, a third-degree felony, per the arrest affidavit obtained by MMA Fighting. The charges stem from an event that happened in the early morning hours Monday outside a famous Miami Beach hotel, Fountainebleu.

McGregor, an Ireland native, is being accused of slapping the cell phone out of a man’s hand at around 5:20 a.m. while leaving the hotel, which houses the well-known nightclub Liv. McGregor then allegedly stomped on the phone several times, picked it up and walked away.

The alleged victim, Ahmed Abdirzak, told police that the phone was damaged and was valued at $1,000. Abdirzak was attempting to take a photo of McGregor when McGregor allegedly slapped it from his hand, per the affidavit.

McGregor, 30, was arrested at 5:56 p.m. local time Monday on the two felony charges and transported to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He made $12,500 bond at around 10:30 p.m. local time.

“Last evening Conor McGregor was involved in a minor altercation over a cell phone that resulted in a call to law enforcement,” McGregor’s attorney Samuel Rabin said in a statement. “Mr McGregor appreciates the response of law enforcement and pledges his full cooperation.”

(Update: McGregor’s arraignment is scheduled for April 10, per a state attorney’s office spokesperson.)

Per multiple reports, McGregor just recently completed 25 hours of community service in relation to his guilty plea to misdemeanor disorderly conduct stemming from the infamous bus attack in Brooklyn last year.

McGregor is currently suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) for his role in the post-UFC 229 melee in Las Vegas, involving his opponent that night, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Nurmagomedov’s team. “The Notorious” is eligible to come off the six-month suspension April 5.

In the photo he posted Tuesday morning, McGregor is seen leaving jail wearing a gray t-shirt emblazoned with a faux newspaper cover featuring a headline reading “McGregor is back!”