Mixed martial arts star McGregor convicted of assault, fined 1,000 euros

By Conor Humphries

 

FILE PHOTO: Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia, October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

 

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor was convicted on Friday of assault for punching a man who refused a shot of whiskey from him in a Dublin pub in April and was fined 1,000 euros ($1,117).

 

The 31-year-old twice Ultimate Fighting Championship title-holder, offered a guilty plea and apologised to his victim in Dublin's District Court.

 

"What I did was very wrong. I would like to apologise again to the injured party... and assure you that nothing of this nature will happen again," said McGregor, dressed in a navy suit and tie.

 

McGregor's solicitor Michael Staines asked the court to give McGregor "one last chance" and said a criminal conviction could lead to a refusal of a visa to the United States and create "very severe difficulties" for McGregor's career.

 

McGregor, who declined to comment to the media after the hearing, last week announced plans to return to the UFC octagon in Las Vegas on Jan. 18 against an opponent he declined to name.

 

He said he wants three fights in 2020, including rematches with Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who defeated the Irishman in a lightweight title bout last year, the Irishman's most recent MMA fight.

 

WHISKEY SHOT

 

The court heard that McGregor went to a bar he frequents close to Dublin city centre and bought a bottle of Proper Twelve whiskey, a brand he founded, and poured drinks for customers sitting at the bar.

 

One customer, Desmond Keogh, who McGregor did not know, twice refused a drink by moving the glass away. McGregor twice placed the drink back in front of him, the court heard.

 

Several minutes later he returned to the man, who was facing away from McGregor, and punched him, a video shown in court showed.

 

A police officer told the court the man had a sore face for several hours but did not suffer any lasting injury. McGregor's solicitor told the court that the fighter had paid an undisclosed sum to Keogh.

 

Keogh said in a letter submitted to the court that he accepted McGregor's apology and did not want to submit a victim impact statement.

 

McGregor was charged in a separate case in April 2018 with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief after police said he attacked a charter bus in New York carrying UFC fighters.

 

He pleaded guilty to a reduced disorderly conduct charge in that case.

 

($1 = 0.8957 euros)

 

(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Toby Davis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-11-02

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

 

He's a warrior trapped in a peaceful society. Like an animal in a cage. If we were repelling barbarians daily, this man would be deified. He was just born at the wrong point in history. About 20 years to soon.

 

 

20 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

He's a warrior trapped in a peaceful society. Like an animal in a cage. If we were repelling barbarians daily, this man would be deified. He was just born at the wrong point in history. About 20 years to soon.

 

 

Hmm...

 

20 years too soon for what exactly?

 

An interesting dilemma here; this man makes his living being violent and is both cheered and rewarded handsomely for his actions. Yet, when he is (arguably) less violent, but outside of the ring, his actions are a crime.

 

I have no real feelings for McGregor as an individual (not a fan of MMA), but the case noted above bears a remarkable similarity to a case of a military person, trained to kill in war, returning home and committing a violent act. 

 

A philosophical question for this rainy Saturday morning;

 

Is McGregor guilty or are we as a society guilty because we made him what he is by virtue of praise and money?

 

Anyone care to take a stab?

 

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

An interesting dilemma here; this man makes his living being violent and is both cheered and rewarded handsomely for his actions. Yet, when he is (arguably) less violent, but outside of the ring, his actions are a crime.

In the ring he is participating in a sport against another trained, willing competitor. 

 

In the pub he cowardly hit an old man who was sat at the bar and looking the other way. 

 

There is no dilemma about which one is a crime.

2 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

He's a warrior trapped in a peaceful society. Like an animal in a cage. If we were repelling barbarians daily, this man would be deified. He was just born at the wrong point in history. About 20 years to soon.

 

 

Agree. Blokes like him will be useful when the Chinese start up soon

 

A post which was reported was not removed as it was not in violation of the following forum rule:

 

16) You will not make changes to quoted material from other members posts, except for purposes of shortening the quoted post. This cannot be done in such a manner that it alters the context of the original post.

2 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

He's a warrior trapped in a peaceful society. Like an animal in a cage. If we were repelling barbarians daily, this man would be deified. He was just born at the wrong point in history. About 20 years to soon.

 

 

Send him to Thailand ???? 

the money fight with floyd made him rich beyond his wildest dreams... it went to his head...

 

he never fought again after that ...  or did he try kebab and lost

Come on Conor, give the man 10.000 to show that you mean it...

Overrated. A good striker no doubt but take him down on the mat, he is de-fanged. Lost to Diaz and Khabib on the mat. 

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

A philosophical question for this rainy Saturday morning;

 

Is McGregor guilty or are we as a society guilty because we made him what he is by virtue of praise and money?

 

Anyone care to take a stab?

 

If you blame society than McGregor is just a basic animal with no moral choice. He can choose between right and wrong. If he can't, let's chain him up like a fighting dog and then, when needed, put him back in the pit for the fight.

Dude got beat down by a 40 something who'd retired for two years.  Maybe just rebuilding his confidence with a drunk 60 something sat on a barstool.  

 

Surprised UFC haven't yet signed up the barstool guy and promoting the multi million dollar rematch as, "The Rumble on The Barstool II"

inherent philosophy within martial arts is to not use it unless for self defense or sparring. sad such a talented accomplixhed guy assaulted someone like this 

On 11/2/2019 at 5:55 AM, canuckamuck said:

He's a warrior trapped in a peaceful society. Like an animal in a cage. If we were repelling barbarians daily, this man would be deified. He was just born at the wrong point in history. About 20 years to soon.

 

 

 

He's a prat who allows booze and other recreational drugs to cloud his brain and feed his ego problem.

 

He differentiated himself cleverly to initially promote his fight career but allowed his persona to take over and believed his own <deleted>!

On 11/2/2019 at 10:51 AM, Eric Loh said:

Overrated. A good striker no doubt but take him down on the mat, he is de-fanged. Lost to Diaz and Khabib on the mat. 

 

Didn't do so well as a striker with Mayweather either!