Advertisement

How a random fan helped Conor McGregor during crazy melee

Video has emerged of the moment a spectator rushed into the Octagon to help Conor McGregor at UFC 229.

As all hell broke loose in and outside the cage last Sunday in Las Vegas, a number of strange moments went unnoticed.

Including this one where an average bloke put his body on the line to try and protect his countryman.

NOT HAPPENING? Khabib reportedly rejects $15 million McGregor offer

UFC star Daniel Cormier first recalled the story of how he saw the man rush into the Octagon as the crazy melee erupted.

“There’s a guy behind me. He’s wearing this nice jacket. … So he’s standing behind me, and he goes, ‘Who do you got in the fight?’ Cormier said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.

“This guy’s completely not into the game, right? So I go, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna go Khabib.’

The man rushed into the Octagon. Image: Twitter
The man rushed into the Octagon. Image: Twitter

“So after the fight, when we all jumped the rail, I’m like in the octagon pushing, and the guy’s like checking on Conor. He was like a fan. He was just like a fan that jumped the rail when everyone else jumped the rail and got all the way to the octagon – he was like checking on Conor.

“I (later) asked my wife, ‘Salina, what happened with that guy? Was he with McGregor?’ She goes, ‘Daniel, after he went and checked to make sure Conor was OK, he just got back in his seat.’ I swear to God. He just climbed the rail and got back in his seat.

“I was like, ‘What in the world just happened!? What in the world just happened!?’ It was crazy. How did this dude end up in the octagon, and then he checked to make sure Conor was OK, and then he went back and sat down.”

So who is he?

Now the random fan has come forward and identified himself.

“I wouldn’t say adrenaline took over,” David Martin, 41, told For The Win. “I’d say patriotism took over first.

Conor McGregor. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Conor McGregor. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

“I thought Russia was attacking Ireland. I thought a bunch of Russians were jumping in and this guy (McGregor) was tired and beaten down from the fight and was being attacked by what I thought were a bunch of Russian fans.

Martin is apparently the CEO of a company called Fantasy, which works with the UFC.

He was at the fight with actor Josh Duhamel, who helped him get the cage-side seats.

“I’m disappointed how I didn’t get there faster,” he said.

“In reality, if that guy that hit Conor in the head hit him in a different spot, like right-centre of the back of the head and it could have been a fatal blow and Conor could have been dead.

“It happens all the time at nightclubs, somebody gets punched right in back of head and it’s a fatal blow.

“Just because you’re Conor McGregor it doesn’t mean that something like that can’t happen to you.

“I thought Conor could be killed and those guys were going in to kill him and that’s what I could not have happen.”

Martin said he actually spoke to McGregor during the chaos.

“I was talking to him and I just held onto him and pushed security away with (McGregor’s coach) Kavanagh because he didn’t want them on him too much, he wanted them to back off a bit.

“I put an arm on Conor and one on the cage and told him to calm down and breathe. My thing was to calm him down – the last thing I wanted was for Conor to go after everyone.”