Lawyer Says Michael Chiesa Has ‘Legitimate Case’ in Lawsuit Against Conor McGregor

Lawyer Dmitriy Shakhnevich spoke with MMA Fighting to discuss the viability of Michael Chiesa’s lawsuit against Conor McGregor. Chiesa has filed a lawsuit against McGregor, the Barclays Center and more over McGregor’s buss attack that left Chiesa bloodied and forced to pull out of his fight with Anthony Pettis at UFX 223, claiming negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, assault, battery and more. Highlights are below:

On the strength of Chiesa’s lawsuit: “There’s definitely a legitimate case. In fact, because [McGregor] plead guilty in the criminal case. And in criminal cases the standard is higher — it’s beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s not a preponderance of the evidence. Because he did that, it’s virtually a defenseless case. You can’t defend this case, there’s no way to defend it. Even if he didn’t plead guilty, there’s 450 videos showing this. There’s really no substantive defense.”

On the likelihood of a settlement: “There’s no other way. Because there’s no defense. There’s no way Conor can defend his case — he plead guilty. He allocated in open court what he did wrong. There’s no defense that’s admissible in this case.”

On Chiesa not putting a dollar amount in the lawsuit: “What they can do in this case is they can really put Conor through the ringer. They can make him sit for a deposition, they could tape the deposition. It could make him really uncomfortable. He doesn’t need that. He has money, he has fame, he has everything. He’s not gonna want to be dragged through the mud. He’s gonna pay whatever he has to pay. Whatever he pays will pale in comparison to what he makes in a couple of weeks. There’s really no reason for him to defend this case.”

On Chiesa’s lawsuit being a smart move: “It’s tough to forego this possibility. The justice system is designed for this and he has a great case on the merits. There’s no downside. So, it’s tough to blame him. To get that much money in his pocket for a guy — you never know, he could lose his next fight and be cut and that’s it. It’s that kind of business. So, you can’t really judge him. I don’t. I’d encourage him to do the same thing and I’d encourage everybody else in that bus to do the same thing.”