Conor McGregor’s Legal Team Negotiating Plea Deal; Next Hearing Set For July 26

Conor McGregor appeared in court Thursday and remains in plea negotiations for his involvement in an April incident at Barclays Center. pic.twitter.com/3iOwqDg56Q

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 14, 2018

The ongoing saga of Ultimate Fighting Championship superstar Conor McGregor’s legal troubles resulting from his now infamous bus attack isn’t going to be over until late July at the earliest, after “The Notorious” and fellow co-conspirator Cian Cowley made yet another appearance at the Brooklyn Criminal Courthouse on Thursday.

McGregor’s legal team kept it brief, stating they intended on negotiating a plea deal and the case was continued again until July 26.

A member of McGregor’s legal team read a statement from the beleaguered Irishman:

Here is a statement from Conor McGregor via a member of his legal team: pic.twitter.com/RXHMAG3hxD

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 14, 2018

“I regret my actions that led to today. I understand the seriousness of this matter and I’m hopeful this will get worked out. Thank you, everyone.”

McGregor’s troubles began in April when he flew to New York City and stormed the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where his foe Khabib Nurmagomedov was preparing to fight in the main event of UFC 223. McGregor and company found their man inside of a bus at the Barclays Center and proceeded to throw metal dollies and objects through the bus windows. Nurmagomedov was left unharmed, however Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg were unfortunately caught in the crossfire, and were forced to pull out of their respective fights due to injuries sustained during McGregor’s attack.

McGregor has largely also avoided the press since the attack, covering his face during his initial perp walk in April, ignoring reporters as he runs to his awaiting car after court appearances… It’s clear “The Notorious” wants this to go away as quickly and quietly as possible.

In lieu of the UFC superstar himself, McGregor’s manager Audie Attar spoke to Ariel Helwani , but refused to go into details about the planned plea agreement:

Spoke briefly to Conor McGregor’s manager @AudieAttar outside the courthouse about today’s hearing and what’s next in terms of the negotiations with the UFC. Here you go: pic.twitter.com/NtudaHRPG8

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 14, 2018

“Today we’re here to focus on court; we’re not going to focus on any future plans until we handle this matter. Right now we’re in good negotiations with the district attorney, so we’re going to focus on that and we’ll focus on the future later.”

Attar said that the plan is to resolve McGregor’s legal troubles for good on July 26, which would mean the two-time world champion could potentially fight by autumn of this year, but that remains to be seen.

The incident was a massive black eye for the UFC, who have been trying to make a good impression while hosting events in New York State given how long it took to get MMA legalized in the Empire State.

McGregor ultimately turned himself in to the NYPD and was charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief. Meanwhile, Cowley received one count of assault and one count of criminal mischief.

The UFC superstar hasn’t stepped foot in the Octagon since beating Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 205 back in 2016. Since then, McGregor managed to coax Floyd Mayweather Jr. out of retirement for a 12-round boxing match. “The Notorious” was TKO’d for the first time ever in his combat sports career by Mayweather after a solid showing in the first few rounds.

UFC fans have been left in the lurch ever since then, and won’t receive any kind of definitive answers as to McGregor’s return until July 26 at the earliest.

Until then, talks of superfights between McGregor and GSP or Khabib Nurmagomedov will have to wait.