Charges against Conor McGregor for alleged mobile phone incident reduced by prosecutors

Prosecutors have reportedly reduced charges against Conor McGregor for the alleged incident outside a Miami hotel last month.

McGregor has had the degree of one felony charge lowered, with the other reduced to a misdemeanour, which apparently brings his potential maximum sentence down to six years, having initially faced a maximum of 20 years in prison with the original charges. The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion allegedly slapped a mobile phone out of the hands of a man outside of a Miami hotel on March 11, with police records stating that McGregor also allegedly stepped on the phone repeatedly while it was on the ground. "As a matter of normal procedure, police officers arrest and charge based on probable cause, the lowest evidentiary standard," Ed Griffith, spokesperson for the Miami-Dade state attorney, told USA TODAY Sports. "Prosecutors must believe that they can prove the potential charges beyond a reasonable doubt, a much higher standard of required evidence." A hearing for McGregor's case is currently scheduled for April 10. McGregor announced his plans to retire from mixed martial arts in an unexpected Twitter statement last week but he has seemingly made a U-turn on that decision when he looked to move forward from his unpleasant war of words with fierce rival Khabib Nurmagomedov before 'The Notorious' said: "See you in the Octagon."