​Conor McGregor’s public arc since his high-profile boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in 2017 has been a steady drumbeat of controversy and legal entanglements that far eclipsed his achievements inside the octagon. The following timeline collects the key incidents that kept McGregor in the headlines for reasons other than his work as a fighter, while also noting his efforts to return to competition and a hoped-for turn in his personal life.
Early 2018 marked a dramatic escalation in the feud between McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. After Nurmagomedov slapped McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov, McGregor’s response came in a brazen confrontation at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. McGregor and a group of men stormed the venue’s loading dock area and targeted a bus carrying Nurmagomedov and other UFC fighters. The attack included McGregor hurling a steel dolly through a bus window, injuring several people inside. Eyewitnesses recalled the moment as chaotic and shocking, with one fighter describing the scene as an inexplicable attack that sparked widespread confusion about what was happening. The legal fallout was swift: McGregor was charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of criminal mischief, though a plea deal ultimately reduced the charge to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. The incident left a stain on McGregor’s image and inflamed one of MMA’s most heated rivalries.
The tensions between the two camps spilled over again following a separate post-fight skirmish on October 6, 2018, when Nurmagomedov jumped the cage and engaged one of McGregor’s training partners, igniting a massive brawl inside the arena. The episode resulted in McGregor receiving a six-month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission and a $50,000 fine, illustrating how quickly a personal rivalry can become a public relations and legal headache for a fighter who had once seemed untouchable inside the sport.
In 2019, McGregor faced a troubling incident in Miami during which a fan alleged that his phone was damaged when McGregor grabbed and stomped on it. The legal maneuvering that followed led to McGregor being charged with robbery and criminal mischief. As the case unfolded, the man who had been trying to capture a photo or video reportedly chose to drop the charges against McGregor two months later, allowing the incident to fade from the headlines without a courtroom resolution to the same degree as other cases in which he had become entangled.
That same year, McGregor faced another confrontation in Dublin, this time in a pub setting. He was charged with punching a man, ultimately pleading guilty to assault and receiving a fine. In an unusual turn, the fighter later purchased the very pub where the incident had occurred, a move that reflected a complicated blend of personal accountability and strategic branding in the wake of the incident.
On a different continent, McGregor drew legal scrutiny in Europe in September 2020 over an incident in Corsica, France, where he was briefly questioned on suspicion of sexual assault and indecent exposure. He was released without charges two days later, but the episode added another layer to his growing profile as a figure of controversy beyond the sport.
As McGregor prepared for a return to competition, he faced questions about his personal life and whether his public image might finally begin to pivot toward a more stable path. The sequence of high-profile incidents—from the bus attack at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to the post-fight brawl with Nurmagomedov, to the phone-smashing incident, and the European legal episodes—had created a timeline of trouble that contrasted sharply with the athletic prowess that had once made him a global icon.
Looking ahead to his return to the sport, McGregor has spoken about the possibility of putting his personal life in order and focusing on his craft inside the octagon. Still, the history of legal and reputational challenges loomed large as a constant frame around any talk of a comeback. The question for fans and observers was whether the fighter could rise above the notoriety that had colored much of the years since the Mayweather bout and reestablish himself as a dominant figure in mixed martial arts, both inside the cage and in the court of public opinion.
Note: This summary reflects the publicly reported events associated with Conor McGregor’s timeline of trouble from the period following his 2017 Mayweather fight through the events that have kept him in the spotlight up to 2024. The Sporting News is listed as a preferred source for coverage of these events.