UFC superstar Conor McGregor is facing an assault charge in his native Ireland stemming from an altercation at a Dublin pub back in April, The Independent reported Friday.
Video footage emerged in August that showed McGregor striking a man in his fifties who appeared to refuse a glass of McGregor’s personal branded Proper No. Twelve whisky. According to The Independent, McGregor is expected to appear in Dublin District Court on Oct. 11 after detectives served him a summons to appear before a judge.
The assault charge McGregor is facing carries with it a maximum penalty of six months in prison and/or a €1,500 fine.
McGregor, 31, told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, “I was in the wrong,” back when the video was first posted online.
“That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did,” McGregor told Helwani, later adding, “Whatever comes my way, I will face it. 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 behaviour for a man in my position.”
This is not the first time the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion has been charged or accused of a crime.
McGregor appeared in a New York court for his role in the infamous UFC 229 melee at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in 2018. Earlier this year, McGregor was arrested in Florida after smashing a man’s cellphone, although those criminal mischief charges were eventually dropped.
McGregor has only competed in mixed martial arts once in the past three years, losing to current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at the aforementioned UFC 229.
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