Conor McGregor charged with pub assault, to appear in Dublin court next week

UFC superstar Conor McGregor will appear in court in the Irish capital next week to face charges related to an incident in a Dublin pub earlier this year in which McGregor appeared to punch a man, according to reports in Ireland.

McGregor, 31, will appear before a judge at the Dublin District Court on Friday October 11 after it was determined by the Director of Public Prosecutions that he is to be prosecuted for the incident which took place in The Marble Arch pub in the Drimnagh area of Dublin in April of this year, the Irish Independent reports.  

McGregor is said to be facing an assault charge under Section Two of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. This comes after video footage of the incident was released in August which appeared to show McGregor strike an older man with his left hand. McGregor had been in the pub offering punters free shots of his Proper No. Twelve brand of Irish whiskey.

Reports from the Irish media suggest that the older man had refused the drink while also verbally insulting the former UFC champion. The fracas came just a day after charges were dropped by Miami prosecutors following McGregor being arrested for damaging a fan's cell phone.

READ MORE: Conor McGregor charges dropped after Miami Beach 'phone attack' as victim refuses US return

A statement was taken from the alleged Dublin victim after which McGregor was questioned, but not arrested.

McGregor would later tell Ariel Helwani in an interview for ESPN that he regretted the incident and extended his apologies to the man in question.

"I was in the wrong," McGregor told Helwani. "That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having to end the way it did.

"I tried to make amends and I made amends back then. It still, that doesn’t even 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."

Should McGregor be convicted, he is liable to spend six months in jail as well as facing a fine of $1,650, or both. He has previously come to the attention of Irish courts on road traffic charges, while he was arrested in New York City last year for his part in the now infamous 'Brooklyn bus attack'.