The former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor formally pleaded not guilty via his legal team Wednesday in Miami-Dade County criminal court, according to the Independent. McGregor is being charged with felony robbery (sudden snatch) and misdemeanor criminal mischief after being accused of throwing a man’s cellphone the floor and stomping on it last month outside a trendy Miami Beach hotel.
McGregor, 30, originally wrote a written plea of not guilty March 12, a day after he was arrested. He was not present in court Wednesday. Per online court records, McGregor or his attorneys have a scheduled court appearance April 30 and then a scheduled trial hearing May 13. He was initially charged with a pair of felonies.
McGregor and another man, Ahmed Abdirzak, were allegedly leaving the Fountainbleu Hotel at the same time in the early morning hours of March 11 when Abdirzak, an England native, attempted to take a photo of McGregor with his phone. McGregor allegedly slapped the phone out of Abdirzak’s hand, then stomped on it several times, damaging it. McGregor then allegedly picked up the phone and walked away, leaving the hotel area.
A new, clear video of the incident was released Wednesday by prosectors and it shows McGregor swatting the phone out of the possession of a man with his left hand and then stomping on it.
Abdirzak filed a lawsuit against McGregor in the days following McGregor’s arrest, but dropped the filing last week after an apparent resolution.
McGregor (21-4) has not fought since a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 last October, but has been in the news a lot lately. Last month, McGregor announced his retirement on Twitter, one day before the New York Times published a story stating that the Irish fighter is being investigated by police in his home country for alleged sexual assault. McGregor has also been embroiled in a nasty Twitter spat with Nurmagomedov, with the UFC reportedly getting involved.
