Irish and English newspapers are heavily covering an unconfirmed story that UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor punched a mob associate in an Irish bar on Sunday night. While most of the reports don’t name McGregor, it’s known that ‘Notorious’ is the figure in question, as confirmed by the Daily Mail.
According to multiple sources, the man who was struck is in his late 50s and has close ties to convicted drug dealer Graham ‘The Wig’ Whelan. Whelan is allegedly a member of the Kinahan cartel, which recently won gang war in Dublin. The unnamed man was reported to be innocently trying to break up a fight between McGregor and another man, when he was punched for his trouble. Irish police believe the incident is linked to another alleged assault carried out by McGregor earlier this month.
McGregor responded to the rumors with an enigmatic post on his social network.
UFC president Dana White was asked to respond during a media luncheon.
I don’t think it’s true,” said White. “Because if it were true, it would be big. Conor can friggin’ walk down the street, and it’s big news now. If this was true, I would just have to believe it would be off-the-charts crazy.
“If it’s true, we’ll end up finding out. I can’t chase all these things around. If they’re true, we’ll get it figured out.”
White famously had to leave Boston as a young man, when local organized crime figures demanded more protection money from his boxing fitness business than he had. The UFC was boss asked to respond to reports that the figure McGregor hit had organized crime ties.
Can’t be a good thing for Conor, said White, adding “but you never know. I don’t know how that stuff works. I didn’t know any of those guys. But I’m sure it can be worked out, too. Jake LaMotta’s brother beat the s*** out of a wise guy, too, and they figured it out.
White also said that Conor has $100 million in the bank, ” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>might never fight again, and drew parallels with Jon Jones’ wheels coming off, noting it is more common in combat sports than others.
