McGregor posts bond, released from jail
NEW YORK — UFC fighter Conor McGregor was released from police custody Friday after posting $50,000 bond at Brooklyn Criminal Court.
McGregor, 29, was charged with one count of felony criminal mischief and three counts of assault after being involved in a melee at Barclays Center shortly after UFC 223 media day Thursday, police said.
Cian Cowley, 25, who trains with McGregor, also was charged with one count of assault and one count of criminal mischief for his role in the incident, police said. He was released on $25,000 bond.
Kings County Judge Consuelo Mallafre-Melendez issued orders of protection against McGregor and Cowley in favor of multiple individuals involved in the incident, including UFC fighters Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg, both of whom were injured Thursday. Chiesa and Borg were treated at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and later released, according to the UFC. Both fighters were forced to cancel their bouts scheduled Saturday night.
McGregor and Cowley are scheduled to appear in court again June 14.
Police said Thursday's dispute was over a vacated title. On Wednesday, UFC president Dana White announced that McGregor's lightweight title would be vacated and that the winner of Saturday's Max Holloway-Khabib Nurmagomedov would be the new lightweight champion. Holloway was forced to pull out of the Saturday's fight because he did not make weight Friday.
Multiple videos appeared on social media within hours of Thursday's incident. One showed McGregor throwing a metal hand cart through a bus window, shattering the glass. Another showed him lifting a metal barricade and charging the bus.
The bus contained numerous fighters who were scheduled to appear on Saturday night's UFC 223 card. McGregor's actions caused three bouts on Saturday's card to be canceled.
Stewart-Haas drivers 1-2-3 for Texas race
Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer will start in the top three spots for Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth after a weather-shortened qualifying session.
Busch, Harvick and Bowyer were the fastest in the first round of qualifying, but the second and third rounds never took place. With his top lap of 197.368 mph, Busch earned his first pole this season and the 32nd in his career. In other news:
Sebastien Bourdais took the IndyCar pole night at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., bumping fellow Frenchman Simon Pagenaud on the final run of qualifying. Bourdais had a two-lap average of 188.539 mph on the 1.022-mile oval in Dale Coyne Racing's No. 18 car Pagenaud qualified second for Saturday night’s race at 188.148.
Laurie, Robinson lead Champions Cup
Craig Laurie and DeVaughn Robinson combined to shoot a 5-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead after 36 holes of the Champions Cup Invitational.
The Houston duo’s 10-under 132 total leads 50 other teams from the United States and other countries competing on the Cypress Creek Course at Champions Golf Club.
Bart Worthing and Jason Coffin, another team from Houston who led after the first round, is second.
Saturday’s third round tees off at 8:30 a.m.
Isner heads field for U.S. Clay Courts
John Isner returns as the No. 1 seed in next week’s Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships at River Oaks Country Club with the highest ranking – ninth – of his dozen years on the ATP Tour. He also is coming off his biggest career triumph — a first Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open last Sunday.
Isner and Jack Sock, the third seed, are two of the five former Clay Courts champions in the field, having won in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Secondseeded Sam Querrey is a twotime runner-up in Houston. All three are on the U.S. Davis Cup team that is playing Belgium at Nashville, Tenn., this weekend. Play begins Monday at 3 p.m. In other news:
John Isner beat Joris De Loore 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4 to give the United States a 1-0 lead over Belgium in the Davis Cup quarterfinals at Nashville, Tenn. Sam Querrey played Ruben Bemelmans in the other singles match.
NBA’s biggest names top U.S. team pool
LeBron James is putting himself in position to play in a fourth Olympics, and Kevin Durant and Chris Paul a third. The NBA stars were among 35 players chosen for USA Basketball's national team pool of players for 2018-20.
In addition to Paul, Rockets James Harden and Eric Gordon also were on the list along with Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.
The players are expected to attend minicamp in Las Vegas from July 25-27.
Panthers LB Davis suspended 4 games
Carolina’s three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Thomas Davis said he has been suspended by the NFL and will miss the first four games of next season after testing positive for a banned substance. Davis, a former Walter Payton Man of the Year, posted a video on his Twitter account, saying that he tested positive for an estrogen blocker. In other news:
Cleveland traded quarterback Kevin Hogan to Washington. The deal also included swapping sixth-round picks.
The NFL assistant coach with the longest consecutive tenure with the same team finally is retiring. Tennessee announced strength and conditioning coach Steve Watterson is retiring after 32 years with the franchise. Watterson joined the then-Houston Oilers in 1986 as strength and conditioning coordinator before becoming assistant coach in 1988. He moved with the franchise to Tennessee in 1997.