McGregor faces charges
Mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor was arraigned on felony criminal mischief and other charges Friday following a backstage melee at a New York City event.
McGregor answered, “Yes, your honor” when the judge asked Friday whether he understood orders to stay away from the alleged victims in the case. He also was charged with misdemeanor assault, menacing and reckless endangerment. McGregor was released on $50,000 bond.
Video showed McGregor with a group of people causing chaos Thursday as they took an elevator to the loading dock at Barclays Center. He can be seen tossing trash cans and being prevented from throwing a barricade at a bus during his unannounced appearance in New York.
Michael Chiesa was sent to the hospital with injuries sustained in the attack and was forced out of his scheduled fight against Milwaukee’s Anthony Pettis.
SKIING
Marit Bjoergen, the most decorated Winter Olympian in history, said Friday she is retiring from cross-country skiing.
The 38-year-old Norwegian has won 15 Olympic medals, including eight gold. She also has 114 individual wins in 303 World Cup races.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Villanova guard Jalen Brunson was named winner of the 2018 Wooden Award for the men’s player of the year.
The junior averaged 18.9 points, 4.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds in leading the Wildcats to the NCAA title.
South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson won the women’s Wooden Award.
The senior center finished the season as the SEC leader in scoring at 22.9 points. She is expected to be the top pick in next week’s WNBA draft.
TENNIS
John Isner beat Joris De Loore, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4, giving the United States a 1-0 lead over Belgium in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Nashville.
Isner, who moved up to ninth in the world after winning the Miami Open last weekend, kicked off the quarterfinals at Belmont University with a victory taking 3 hours 14 minutes.
AUTO RACING
Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer will start in the top three spots in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Sunday after a weather-shortened qualifying session at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Busch, Harvick and Bowyer were the fastest in the first round of qualifying Friday, but the second and third rounds never took place.
There was initially a delay because of lightning in the area soon after the first round had been completed to determine the top 24 drivers. The second and third rounds of qualifying were eventually canceled because of more lightning and threatening weather.
IndyCar: Sebastien Bourdais took the pole for Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix bumping fellow Frenchman Simon Pagenaud on the final run of qualifying in Avondale, Ariz.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Al Iaquinta, a winner of five straight bouts, will step in and fight in the main event of UFC 223 on Saturday after two other challengers were forced to drop out.
Iaquinta has agreed to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in a lightweight bout at Barclays Center, steadying a promotion thrown into upheaval following criminal charges against star Conor McGregor.
Max Holloway had agreed to fight Nurmagomedov on Saturday on just six days’ notice after original challenger Tony Ferguson injured a knee. But Holloway was unable to reach the weight limit for the bout Friday and was ruled out by the UFC medical team.