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Conor McGregor’s “caught on camera” bar punch has resulted in a criminal charge.
Several months after former UFC champion Conor McGregor was caught on video punching a man at a pub in his native Republic of Ireland, local authorities are now formally charging him with assault.
McGregor’s spokesperson confirmed with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that Conor is due in Dublin court on October 11th for the assault charge. If convicted, the maximum sentence is six months in prison, a fine of $1,646, or both (per The Independent).
“Gardai are investigating an assault incident that occurred at a public house in Drimnagh, Dublin 12, on 6th April 2019 at approximately 2:30pm. A man in his 30s is due to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice on 11th October 2019,” an official statement from Gardai read. (Via MMA Fighting’s Steven Marocco)
On April 6th, McGregor can be seen punching an older gentleman after getting into an apparent dispute. ESPN’s report has since revealed that the man who was assaulted is in his 50s, which is completely counter to Dana White’s claim that the man was “apparently” 40 years old. Shortly after TMZ released the footage back in August, McGregor addressed his behavior in a lengthy interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
“I was in the wrong,” McGregor told ESPN. “That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did.
“I must come here before you and take accountability and take responsibility. I owe it to the people that have been supporting me. I owe it to my mother, my father, my family. I owe it to the people who trained me in martial arts. That’s not who I am. That’s not the reason why I got into martial arts or studying combat sports. The reason I got into it was to defend against that type of scenario.”
“Whatever comes my way, I will face it,” he said. “Whatever comes my way, I deserve it. I will face this head on. I will not hide from it. I was in the wrong. It was completely unacceptable behavior for a man in my position.”
McGregor has not had an actual UFC fight since his defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 almost a year ago to this day. He hasn’t recorded a win since knocking out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016.
McGregor is also allegedly under investigation for a sexual assault that occurred at an Irish hotel last year. The only comment the UFC has made on that particular case is from Dana White, who says Conor told him that “it’s not him.”