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UFC superstar Conor McGregor broke the UFC’s new policy regarding the conduct of its fighters during face-offs on Thursday. According to MMA Mania, McGregor “should be fined, suspended, and pulled from the card” after he kicked Dustin Poirier on Thursday at the pre-fight press conference for UFC 264.
If you missed that moment, you can watch it below.
MMA Mania previously reported the new policy the company told its fighters was in place after Jeremy Stephens vs. Drakkar Klose had to be canceled earlier this year when the latter was injured by his opponent’s shove at the pre-fight face-off.
The policy was relayed to the general public via social media by a UFC star.
“They just told us at weigh ins that if we touch our opponent at ceremonial weigh ins for any thing other than a fist bump, or a handshake, or high five, we will be pulled from the card, suspended, and fined,” UFC women’s flyweight contender Lauren Murphy posted on Twitter.
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Questions Abound About UFC’s Reported Policy
The policy was never formally announced by the UFC and maybe never even implemented, so there’s a good chance it was just something relayed to fighters as a reactionary move after the Stephens vs. Klose fight had to be canceled.
All that’s really known is that Murphy and presumedly other UFC stars were warned about it, so UFC 264 featured the first real test of what might happen if a fighter dared to lash out at another star during a pre-fight faceoff again.
It also offered perhaps the best possible proof that a blanket policy such as the one described to Murphy by the UFC might not really have any teeth behind it.
That would especially seem to be the case in regards to main event superstars like McGregor. If McGregor “should be fined, suspended, and pulled from the card”, then the policy is probably broken.
To put it bluntly, there’s no way the UFC would ever pull McGregor or any other main event star out of a fight for something like McGregor’s kick on Thursday.
But if the UFC policy is in place as was suggested by Murphy on social media and reported by MMA Mania, then that doesn’t mean a fine or suspension of some kind might not follow for McGregor after UFC 264 is over.
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Why UFC Might Fine or Suspend McGregor
Even if it were just as a token of some kind, such as suspending McGregor for three months knowing full well he wouldn’t return that fast anyway, or even giving the richest fighter in UFC history some kind of small fine for his transgression, the punishment would at least help keep the policy on the minds of other UFC stars when they head up to the dais before their fights.
Look, the UFC can’t afford for fights to fall off their cards because of pre-fight shoves and kicks. Those face-offs are done to help promote the fight, not potentially keep them from happening.
But the UFC also can’t afford to lose its biggest stars via an internal policy that was meant to keep its fighters safe before they enter the cage.
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