UFC News: Conor McGregor avoids jail time, could be back fighting in 2018

What's the story?

Conor McGregor entered a guilty plea deal for disorderly conduct with the New York supreme court that will see the felony charges against him reduced to misdemeanours and see him escape jail time.

The deal would allow him to resume in his UFC career and also doesn't accrue a criminal record under his name, meaning that he is free to fight in New York or anywhere else in the United States as well.

In case you didn't know...

McGregor was initially slapped with three felony counts and one misdemeanour count after he caused mayhem at UFC 223, attacking a bus filled with UFC fighters and staff with a group of friends.

The attack was reportedly a result of UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov's altercation with McGregor's training partner and good friend Artem Lobov on the previous day.

However, other fighters such as Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg were also caught in the crossfire and injured when the Irishman threw a dolly at the UFC fighter bus, shattering a glass.

The heart of the matter

With the court proceedings out of the way, McGregor is free to resume his UFC career - something his manager Audie Attar says is very much on the cards in the near future.

Attar, who spoke to ESPN's Ariel Helwani, also mentioned that McGregor wants to fight in 2018 and that UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov could be the fight that they're after.

What's next?

Reputed journalist Ariel Helwani reported that the date that the UFC is looking at for the fight is October 6th, in Las Vegas. However, he did mention that the year-end card on December 29th and the huge UFC 230 Madison Square Garden card could also be options, in that order.

Now, all that remains is for the negotiations between the UFC and Conor McGregor's team to conclude so that we can get a concrete date to mark on our calendars.