McGregor convicted for punching man who refused whiskey shot
November 1, 2019
Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor was convicted of assault on Friday and fined €1,000 ($1,117).
The 31-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder had punched a man at a Dublin pub in April after he refused a shot of whiskey.
Read more: Conor McGregor's long list of misdemeanors
"What I did was very wrong. I would like to apologize again to the injured party... and assure you that nothing of this nature will happen again," McGregor told the court.
The burly brawler entered a guilty plea and avoided a jail sentence.
McGregor's solicitor Michael Staines told the judge that his client had already paid the victim an undisclosed sum in compensation. He asked the court to give the fighter "one last chance" and said a conviction could lead to a refusal of a United States visa and damage McGregor's career.
The court heard that McGregor went to a Dublin pub and bought a bottle of Proper Twelve whiskey, a brand he founded, and started offering drinks to customers.
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One customer, Desmond Keogh, who McGregor did not know, refused a shot twice. The fighter, with a mixed martial arts record of 21 wins and 4 losses — 18 by knockout — then punched him.
The court was shown a video of the incident.
A police officer told the court that Keogh had a sore face for several hours but did not suffer any permanent injury.
Keogh, in a letter submitted to the court, said he accepted McGregor's apology and did not want to submit a victim impact statement.
McGregor has had other controversies. Following a match he lost against Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018, he got in a post-fight brawl and was banned for six months and fined $50,000.
cw/rc (AP, Reuters)