Conor McGregor breaks his silence on punching old bloke in the pub

Last week we weighed in on a heavy punch that UFC superstar Conor McGregor dealt out to a 50yr old bloke in an Irish pub. The video doesn’t exactly paint McGregor in the best light, in case ya missed it, you can check out the clip here.

The clip went bananas, being viewed all around the world, but McGregor has been ‘radio silent’ on the incident, until now.

Credit: TMZ Sports

Speaking out about the incident for the fist time, McGregor told Ariel Helwani in an interview on ESPN:

“I was in the wrong,” he said. “I must come here before you and take accountability and take responsibility. I owe it to the people that have been supporting me.”

Credit: Showtime

“In reality, it doesn’t matter what happened there, I was in the wrong. That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it to end the way it did.

Although, five months ago it was, I tried to make amends. I made amends back then. That does not even matter. That’s not who I am, that’s not the reason I got into martial arts or studying combat sport. The reason was to defend against that type of scenario.”

Credit: ESPN

Like I said, I’m working really hard to do this,” McGregor said. “I’m taking the necessary steps and I’ve been on a great trajectory. Even before the Miami incident, I was on a great trajectory. And then I had a little slip and I’m back up. I’m trying my hardest. I swear on my life, I’m trying my hardest

Final Thought:

Whether you like him or hate him, one thing that can’t be argued is that he doesn’t shy away from failure/mistakes. Credit to him for owning up to it and confronting the media about it. As for the incident itself? That’s just not cricket.

Full interview is in the clip below.