Conor McGregor 'pulled' from UFC 219 following 'unacceptable' behaviour at Bellator event, says commission chief

Conor McGregor 'pulled' from UFC 219 following 'unacceptable' behaviour at Bellator event, says commission chief

*Conor McGregor was watching his team-mate Charlie Ward fight on Friday night
*McGregor ran into the octagon after Ward's first-round win vs John Redmond
*He was then involved in an ugly altercation with the referee and an official
*The Irishman had been set to headline UFC 219 in Las Vegas on December 30
*Commission chief Mike Mazzulli says UFC told him that plan has been scrappe

Any hope of Conor McGregor fighting before the end of the year looks to have slipped away following the Irishman's actions at a Bellator event in Dublin over the weekend.

The UFC lightweight champion jumped into the cage to celebrate team-mate Charlie Ward's victory over John Redmond and proceeded to get involved in an ugly altercation with both referee Mark Goddard and another official before being escorted out of the arena.

And he is set to pay the price with president of the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports, Mike Mazzulli, claiming the events have caused the UFC to scrap plans to have the 29-year-old headline UFC 219 in Las Vegas on December 30.

Conor McGregor in a confrontation with the referee and officials at Bellator 187

McGregor (centre right) lost his cool during the MMA event in Dublin on Friday night

The promotion had been working hard to agree a deal that would see McGregor defend his 155-pound title against interim champion Tony Ferguson on the traditional end of year card.

But Mazzulli says that will no longer happen after a UFC executive contacted him 'within two hours of the Bellator event'.

They basically said to me that it's completely unacceptable in their eyes and that they will be doing something,' he explained.

'They did inform me that he was set to be on the December 30 card and now he will not be on it. So I do commend the UFC to some extent for doing that.

'On the other hand, I will be looking at it and speaking to my attorneys upon returning to the United States to see if I have any action.'

McGregor's coach John Kavanagh has come out in attempt to try and make sense of his actions on Friday night, saying the Notorious was 'overemotional'.

McGregor was angry after being told to get off the top of the octagon by the official