VIDEO | Stephen A. Smith scolds Conor McGregor for latest legal trouble

Now that the UFC is on ESPN, there will be increasing occurrences of the main ESPN personalities giving their opinion on big UFC headlines. The recent arrest of Conor McGregor is a prime example of this, as the main talking heads of ESPN had an opportunity to share their opinion about the controversial former two-weight UFC champion.

On Tuesday’s edition of First Take, Stephen A. Smith offered his opinion on McGregor’s latest run-in with the law:

“Conor McGregor is really getting on my damn nerves,” he said. “I’m really getting sick and tired of him being in the news for something other than winning inside the UFC Octagon. That’s what I’m getting tired of. It’s been years since we’ve seen Conor McGregor actually win a fight.”

“We saw him in the news for throwing a dolly at the bus, we saw him in the news for this [his latest arrest], we seen him in the press conferences, but when he had to step inside the Octagon against Nurmagomedov, we saw what happened. That was a butt-whooping. We saw him in the ring trying to box against Floyd Mayweather, we saw what happened to him there. The last time we saw Conor McGregor win, to be this tough guy — and I love Conor McGregor, I love his mouth, I love how he tries to back it up, I love the fact that he’s a showman, he’s worth the money, he’s worth the price of admission.”

While Stephen A. Smith would continue on with his criticism, he did admit that he wasn’t trying to disrespect McGregor, rather remind him of what made him so popular to begin with.

“I’m not trying to disrespect him, I’m trying to remind Conor McGregor what made you those millions,” he said. “It wasn’t just your mouth, it wasn’t just your attitude, it was the fact that you backed it up and the fact is, he isn’t backing it up these days.”

On Monday, Conor McGregor was arrested in Miami on charges of strong-armed robbery and criminal mischief after smashing a fan’s phone. After McGregor posted bond and was released, the victim in the incident spoke out on Tuesday about the situation, saying McGregor went in for a handshake before smashing his phone.

This is McGregor’s second run-in with the law in the United States, dating back to the bus incident prior to UFC 223 last April. McGregor had reportedly just finished up his court-ordered community service at a Brooklyn church over the weekend when this latest incident occurred on Monday.

The last time McGregor competed in the Octagon he lost to current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October. A post-fight melee between both teams lead to suspensions for Nurmagomedov and McGregor which were handed down by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in January.

You can watch video of Stephen A. Smith’s comments regarding Conor McGregor below:

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 3/13/2019.