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Do not upset Conor McGregor, because the UFC star will come after you with a vengeance. Five months after losing to Nate Diaz, he won the rematch by unanimous decision. In his first time back in the octagon after a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor put Cowboy Cerrone away in 40 seconds.

Now, two years after being snubbed in a bar, of all places, McGregor is getting revenge yet again.

Conor McGregor branched out into the liquor business

Conor McGregor sold his interest in a whiskey brand earlier this year but has confirmed the purchase of his second pub in Ireland. | Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Conor McGregor sold his interest in a whiskey brand earlier this year but has confirmed the purchase of his second pub in Ireland. | Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Just because Conor McGregor was out of the octagon for 15 months between his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov and his victory over Cowboy Cerrone doesn’t mean he wasn’t fighting at all. Specifically, there’s the video that TMZ obtained of the multi-time UFC champion sucker-punching a man during a visit to an Irish bar in 2019. It started when the man declined to try a complimentary shot of McGregor’s Proper No. 12 whiskey.

McGregor founded the brand – its name is a nod to the neighborhood where McGregor grew up — in September 2018 and was the face of the company from the start. Thanks in no small measure to McGregor’s popularity, they reportedly sold over 200,000 cases worldwide in the first seven months.

McGregor cashed out in March 2021, selling his stake in the operation for $155 million.

That’s not the optimal way to promote a brand

The Marble Arch pub in Dublin is back in the news two years after UFC fans last heard about it. The pub was the scene in 2019 of one of Conor McGregor’s several altercations outside the octagon. According to news reports, McGregor was doing some spontaneous promotion of his fledgling Proper No. 12 whiskey and offered to buy a round for the house.

One of the patrons, a 50-year-old man, said he wasn’t interested. McGregor persisted, and the customer continued to say no, leading the mixed martial arts star to take a swing and connect with a blow to the head.

McGregor settled the resulting assault charge by paying a fine and assuring the court that there would be no repeat performance. He also reached a separate settlement with the victim, who did not attend the court proceeding.

“I was in the wrong,” McGregor said in a statement after being charged. “That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did.”

Conor McGregor has ended the episode by buying the bar

Conor McGregor is getting the last laugh in the aftermath of the 2019 incident in an Irish pub that resulted in the UFC champion having to answer to an assault charge. Irish news site The Currency reports that the 32-year-old fighter is in the process of purchasing the Marble Arch pub in Dublin.

McGregor confirmed the development on Twitter and added a twist. The man he punched in 2019 is no longer welcome to drink there.

The purchase is believed to be in the range of $1.8 million to $2.4 million, which wouldn’t make much of a dent in Conor McGregor’s net worth.

For what it’s worth, the latest purchase may not be pure vindictiveness on McGregor’s part. He already owns another pub in Crumblin, Ireland, that he purchased last year.

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Staff Writer, Producer - Motorsports

John Moriello

John Moriello started covering sports in 1982, began digital publishing in 1995, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR.

Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls.

John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.