The shaken clubber whose phone was smashed and taken by Conor McGregor has branded the UFC superstar a ‘dangerous thug’ – telling DailyMail.com: ‘I was scared for my life.’
Ahmed Abdirzak, 22, was trying to video McGregor outside a Miami Beach nightspot when the snarling MMA legend flew into a rage and ‘punched’ his iPhone 8 out of his hand.
Restaurant manager Ahmed then looked on in disbelief as McGregor, 30, picked up the handset and hurled it to the floor before stamping on it repeatedly.
The Irishman then picked up the smashed phone and slipped it into his pocked before casually strolling back to SUV – laughing and adopting the signature McGregor swagger. The phone contained footage of the incident.
‘He walked away with that trademark McGregor strut that you see him enter the ring with in UFC,’ Ahmed told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
‘I’m not going to lie, I was scared for my life – the guy is a lethal weapon.’
McGregor was arrested Monday evening and released hours later on $12,500 bond.
He faces charges of criminal mischief and strong-armed robbery. It is unclear if police have the phone and the footage it contains.
Crime scene: Ahmed Abdirzak tells DailyMail.com he was scared his life was at risk when Conor McGregor stormed up to him, grabbed him and seized his phone – at this spot here while he and his friend waited for their car. ‘I looked into his face and his eyes were bulging. He was so angry. I don’t know whether he was drunk or on drugs, but he looked f***ked.
Outcome: Conor McGregor, one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, is facing charges of misdemeanor criminal mischief and strong-armed robbery. He is seen leaving jail Monday night after being bonded out
Party venue: The Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach is home to LIV where Conor McGregor was partying
Here to party: Conor McGregor was the least famous celebrity spotted by Ahmed Adbirzak and his friends in the LIV nightclub. The biggest name was rapper Blueface
Videos posted on Instagram show the MMA superstar partying with a number of people, including this woman in a captain’s hat
Inside the club: On one clip, Conor McGregor appeared to be arguing with another party-goer, with his arm raised. Hours later he was involved in the skirmish on the car park
Brit Ahmed, from Slough, Berkshire, and a group of friends flew into the U.S. last Friday for a Spring Break vacation in Miami Beach.
Top of their list of nightspots to visit was super club LIV in the swank Fontainebleau Hotel.
‘Everyone told me that LIV is the place to be. The place is really high-end, the music was insane,’ he went on.
‘We saw loads of celebrities. The big US rapper Blueface was performing live. We had a fantastic evening. There was no trouble inside.
‘There was a lot of A-list celebrities there. Conor was probably the lowest there, nobody was showing him any love.
‘The only reason I was looking at him was because I was from the United kingdom and he’s big there.’
Other footage from inside LIV showed McGregor appearing to argue with a clubber as he partied with a number of women.
In a clip posted on Instagram, the Irish MMA star appeared to be shouting at a bearded man. McGregor edges closer to him, before the camera pans away.
The alleged skirmish outside the club happened at 5am when Ahmed and his friends, including best friend Fuad Nur, 23, ran into the star in the hotel valet area as they waited for their rental car.
‘My friend spotted him on the way out and shouted to him ‘McGregor, McGregor, we’ve come all the way from London’,’ he went on.
‘He turned to him and gave him a salute. I said ‘Man dem McGregor’ [a London street expression of friendship and appreciation] and he repeated it word for word, mocking me.
‘It seemed good-natured at that point though, he seemed friendly. I wasn’t insulting him or antagonizing him at all.
‘I don’t drink, I’ve never touched alcohol in my life. I’ve never done drugs. I was completely sober.’
Ahmed said McGregor began shouting lyrics from the hit rap song Thotiana which Blueface had performed inside the club.
He insists he was about 15ft away when he took out his phone to record the spectacle – and that McGregor saw it and advanced towards him.
Defiance; Conor McGregor shared a picture of him in the back of a Miami Beach Police cruiser taken after his arrest – and showing him grinning
Message: The MMA fighter, 30, posted a picture of himself on social media with this caption
Home: McGregor keeps a house in Miami Beach and returned there after being bonded out
‘He reached out his left hand to greet me, to shake my hand. But then he held my arm so I couldn’t get away,’ said Ahmed.
‘His grip was insane. I could tell he was a professional athlete. I thought he’s going to hit me. I was shocked.
‘I looked into his face and his eyes were bulging. He was so angry. I don’t know whether he was drunk or on drugs, but he looked f***ked.
‘I just remained passive, I didn’t want to fight. Then with his right hand he punched the phone. It was so hard I felt the impact through my entire body.’
Ahmed said he watched the phone screen shatter. He tried to pick it up but says McGregor picked it up and threw it on the floor.
‘He stamped on it four times. He then picked it up and put it in his jeans,’ Ahmed added. ‘I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
‘He did his swagger dance and headed to his black SUV with his entourage surrounding him.
‘I was asking them, “Can I get my phone back?”
‘I tried to run after him and asked for it back but he just laughed.’
Amazingly, Ahmed, a dad-of-one who runs his family’s restaurant, Golis, Southall, west London, said the globetrotting sports star is yet to return the smashed iPhone.
‘He robbed me. It was daylight robbery. It wasn’t just a broken phone,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘Nobody has taken the phone away from him and given it back to me.
‘As far as I know he’s still got it. It’s got all my personal pictures of my mother and son that I will never be able to get back now.
‘I’ve got friends in the UK who have done really minor crimes and they aren’t even allowed to come to America. They can’t get visas.
‘How is it that this man, a guy with history of arrests and violence can just come in and out whenever he likes – all because he’s a big name celebrity.
‘He’s a dangerous thug, very dangerous. He lives up to his name – notorious. He thinks the normal rules don’t apply to him.
‘I wouldn’t wish jail on anyone, but they should make an example out of him. His fans are already posting threats and jokes about me online.’
Victim: Ahmed Abdirzak tells DailyMail.com: ‘He’s a dangerous thug, very dangerous. He lives up to his name – notorious. He thinks the normal rules don’t apply to him.’
Witness: Ahmed Abdirzak was with best friend Fuad Nur, 23, when the confrontation with McGregor happened
Arrest report: How police dealt with Conor McGregor
Abdirzak said he should at least have his ability to come and go freely from the U.S. withdrawn.
‘I wouldn’t want to see anyone jailed or deported but I believe in justice,’ he added.
‘Coming to the US is a privilege. And if you do bad things you should lose that privilege
‘I don’t see why they should let him in again. He’s had enough chances to behave himself already.’
Monday’s incident came just three days after McGregor completed his probation for a violent altercation last April in Brooklyn when he attacked a bus carrying several UFC fighters by throwing a dolly through a window.
McGregor turned himself in to police the day after the melee and was charged with assault and criminal mischief.
He pleaded guilty in July to a single disorderly conduct charge in a Brooklyn courthouse in order to avoid prison time.
On Friday it was announced that he’d completed five days of community service at churches in Brooklyn and had taken an anger management class.
Had he violated probation, McGregor likely would have been faced jail time along with possible deportation to Ireland.
The MMA fighter, 30, posted a picture of himself on social media Tuesday with the caption: ‘Patience in this world is a virtue I continue to work on. I love my friends dearly. Thank you all’.
