Conor McGregor arrived in court in Ireland on Friday and his lawyer told the judge he will plead guilty for punching a man at a pub in Dublin according to the Irish Daily Mirror. The attack happened in April, but TMZ was able to obtain footage of the incident in August. McGregor could go to prison for six months if convicted.
Last month, McGregor appeared in court and the judge gave him three weeks to decide if he wanted to plead guilty or not. According to local reports, the victim, whose name is Desmond Keogh, was not present for the hearing on Friday and did not make a victim impact statement. However, he did accept McGregor’s apology for his role in the attack.
Videos by PopCulture.com
McGregor spoke to ESPN about the attack and admitted what he did was wrong.
Conor McGregor – @TheNotoriousMMA – arrives to court this morning where he’s expected to make a plea over an alleged punch in a Dublin pub pic.twitter.com/4eg5lxuuqV
— Irish Daily Mirror (@IrishMirror) November 1, 2019
“I was in the wrong,” McGregor said. “That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did. … I tried to make amends and I made amends back then. But it doesn’t 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. 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.”
If McGregor has to go to prison, he’s prepared to do so.
“Whatever comes my way, I will face it,” McGregor said. “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 behavior for a man in my position.”
Keogh talked about what happened to the Irish Daily Star and he called McGregor a bully.
“I am sitting on the barstool just having a quiet pint with my friend then all of a sudden because I refuse his drink I get a punch,” he said … “You don’t need that in life.
“He is a bit of a bully, a bully with money,” the man added. … I’m glad people saw the video. I don’t like him.”
If McGregor does go to prison, he likely won’t be able to return to UFC in January as he planned.
