UFC lightweight Michael Chiesa was on the fighter bus that former lightweight champion McGregor attacked with a hand truck at UFC 223. The target of the attack was soon-t0-be lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was amused. Two fighters including Chiesa, were cut by flying glass to the point they couldn’t fight.
On weigh-ins day, late replacement main eventer Max Holloway was ruled medically unfit for his fight vs. Nurmagomedov for the vacant title. Pettis took the fight, but couldn’t make weight. Eventually, the fight went to Al Iaquinta. Chiesa is certain that had McGregor not injured him, he would have had a title fight.
Cheisa is now suing McGregor for the loss of a lifetime. Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting interviewed Brooklyn lawyer Dmitriy Shakhnevich about the merits of the case, and potential defenses for McGregor’s team.
The attorney explains that there is no legitimate defense for McGregor, that in the absence of serious injury or death damages could be as high as the low six figures, but that the case can make McGregor miserable. He predicted a settlement.
“There’s no other way,” said Shakhnevich. “Because there’s no defense. There’s no way Conor can defend his case — he pled guilty. He allocated in open court what he did wrong. There’s no defense that’s admissible in this case.”
“What they can do in this case is they can really put Conor through the ringer. They can make him sit for a deposition, they could tape the deposition. It could make him really uncomfortable. He doesn’t need that. He has money, he has fame, he has everything. He’s not gonna want to be dragged through the mud. He’s gonna pay whatever he has to pay. Whatever he pays will pale in comparison to what he makes in a couple of weeks. There’s really no reason for him to defend this case.”
“To get that much money in his pocket for a guy — you never know, [Chiesa] could lose his next fight and be cut and that’s it. It’s that kind of business. So, you can’t really judge him. I don’t. I’d encourage him to do the same thing and I’d encourage everybody else in that bus to do the same thing.”
McGregor fights lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 on October 6 for big money.