A man punched by Conor McGregor in a Dublin pub says he’ll never again set foot in the place - now that the UFC star has bought it.
McGregor punched innocent Dubliner Desmond Keogh, 50, in a now infamous incident caught on tape at the Marble Arch pub in April 2019.
But the MMA star, who pleaded guilty to assault and paid a €1,000 fine over the incident, brought the story back to the fore last week when it emerged he has now bought the pub.
In response to that story, McGregor tweeted: “Yeah, and yer man’s barred.”
But speaking exclusively to Dublin Live last night, Mr Keogh, who McGregor punched simply because he refused to drink a free shot of his ‘Proper 12’ whiskey, said he wasn’t phased by his apparent ban - and he won’t dare spend money in the UFC star’s pub.
“I’m not really concerned because I probably wouldn’t be going back to it now.
Mr Keogh said he found out about being “barred” after reading it in the paper - but he says McGregor’s tweet didn’t phase him.
“I didn’t really make much of it. It’s no skin off my nose really.
He added that the Marble Arch was his local pub, and that he had drank there with pals for the past 14 years.
“I’ve a lot of friends there. I probably drank there for about 14 years.
“The fact that he was in the wrong you know why blame me? It seems weird to me.
“It's disingenuous,” he added.
Mr Keogh added that he felt the incident, which happened two years ago this month, was in the past, and he had put it behind him before this shock purchase emerged.
“The past is in the past. It's all done and dusted two years ago this month.
“He had to go to court and he pleaded guilty.”
But he admitted that he felt McGregor, who is worth an estimated €100M, could have been given a bigger fine over the attack.
"It was ok. Put it that way.
“I thought he might have got a bigger fine from the court, that’s all,” Mr Keogh added.
