Conor McGregor convicted of assault, fined for punching man in bar

Conor McGregor appeared in an Irish courtroom today and pled guilty to punching a man in a bar earlier this year in Dublin.

The Irishman was convicted of assault and fined 1000 Euro for the incident.

Back in April, McGregor punched the man, and video surfaced from TMZ of the incident. It was not a good look for him and he went on to ESPN to apologize for it.

“In reality, it doesn’t matter what happened there,” Conor McGregor said. “I was in the wrong. That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did. And although five months ago it was and I tried to make amends, and I made amends back then. That does not even matter, I was in the wrong. 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,” he continued. “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. So to see that, although months ago I have been making steps and continually making steps to do better and be better, to see it is like a dagger into my heart as a new martial artist. So, I’m just here to own up to that and move on and carry on and face what’s coming with it.”

In the courtroom, Conor McGregor apologized to the victim, Mr. Desmond Keogh. There, Keogh said he accepted the apology and decided not to give a statement during the hearing.

This is not the first time the former two-weight world champion has been in trouble with the law. Back in April of 2018, he was charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief after the attack on the UFC bus in Brooklyn. He also smashed a fan’s phone in Miami earlier this year.

McGregor is reportedly set to return to the Octagon on Jan. 18 where it is expected he will take on Donald Cerrone, though the bout is not yet finalized.

What do you make of Conor McGregor being convicted of assault and being fined?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/1/2019.