CCTV FOOTAGE emerged last week which appeared to show Conor McGregor punching an Irish pensioner in the head in a Dublin bar after he refused a free shot of the former UFC star's whiskey.
The man has spoken publicly about the incident for the first time and described the Irish fighter as "a bully with money" following the alleged assault.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Star, the man said: "I can take a punch. It was sore for about a week. It wasn't killing me or anything. I don't like the man. I think he is getting a bad rep.
"He is a bit of a bully. A bully with money."
In the CCTV footage, the man sitting at the bar twice refuses McGregor's offer of a free shot of whiskey, before appearing to be struck in the head by the former UFC champion.The footage, released by TMZ Sport shows McGregor approaching the bar of the Marble Arch Pub in Dublin on April 6. The 31-year-old then appears to start offering those around him a shot Proper Twelve, his very own Irish whiskey.
He begins to line up glasses along the bar, but one man refuses the offer, twice moving the glass away from him. McGregor seems to take issue with this and approaches the man before appearing to strike him on the side of the head, before being pulled away by two associates.
In an interview with the Irish Sunday Mirror, a source close to the victim said that he was unable to "leave the house for a few days" and was left "shaken" by the altercation. The source insists that his friend doesn't want any money, or even an apology, he simply wants justice to be served.
"He didn’t feel the pain of it at the time but the next day he was in bits. It was a proper hard hit," said the source.
"His face was very sore. He was very shaken by the whole thing and didn't leave his house for days. At the end of the day he doesn’t want an apology or any money, he just wants justice for what happened to him."
