Dana White reacts to video showing Conor McGregor punching bar patron in April

UFC superstar Conor McGregor is in hot water yet again after a video surfaced on Thursday that shows him punching a bar patron in Ireland from an incident that took place back in April.

While footage of the altercation was just released, UFC president Dana White says he was aware of McGregor’s involvement where he can be seen throwing a left hand at a man sitting on a stool before he’s pulled away by several people.

“That happened in April. I knew that happened, they just got the video. It’s pretty bad,” White said when speaking to Jim Rome on Thursday. “Not allegedly, it’s pretty clear [it’s him]. So apparently this was in a pub in Ireland and it was an argument over whiskey. Conor has a whiskey now and it was an argument over the whiskey and Conor reaches out and hits him with a left hook.

“I don’t know the context of it. I don’t know the entire story but he punches a guy, an older man, in the face.”

White says he most recently talked to McGregor two weeks ago but he hadn’t addressed the bar fight with him yet.

“I knew that he had, had an altercation at a bar but I didn’t know with who or any of that, I didn’t know anything, I just knew it happened,” White said.

As far as his reaction, White didn’t sound like he was going to hand down any sanctions to McGregor for his behavior after this latest incident. McGregor was never charged by police, although an investigation into the matter is still ongoing.

Under the UFC’s code of conduct policy, any athlete can face punishment for behavior detrimental to the promotion regardless of involvement from law enforcement.

“When you deal with fighters, guys who fight for a living, there’s always something,” White said when addressing McGregor. “If you look at some of the greatest [fighters], [Mike] Tyson, what Tyson went through at his peak. Every time you take a guy who is a professional fighter and you sprinkle a ton of money on top of it, get ready.

“Get ready for a disaster. Literally a disaster.”

White has seen first hand a slew of incidents involving McGregor outside the Octagon.

In April 2018, McGregor was arrested after leading an assault on a bus carrying fighters back to the host hotel ahead of UFC 223 in Brooklyn, N.Y. McGregor shattered a bus window with a moving dolly and several fighters were injured including Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg.

Chiesa later filed a lawsuit against McGregor that is still pending in New York.

McGregor avoided any jail time after pleading down the charges where he ultimately faced a sentence of community service as well as attending anger management courses.

He was then arrested in Florida back in March after he smashed the phone of a fan who was snapping photos of him outside a posh Miami hotel. The charges in that incident were later dropped after the victim stopped cooperating with prosecutors.

McGregor had already settled a lawsuit with the victim prior to the criminal charges being rescinded.

White knows that each and every one of these altercations are not only pummeling McGregor’s public image but it’s also making a dent in his bank account. Now the question becomes when does McGregor finally concede that he needs to alter his behavior before it costs him more than he’s willing to pay.

“You get to a point where you look at a guy like Conor and you look at the bus incident in New York and the camera, the phone, the guy took the picture of him in Miami and he slaps the phone [away from him] — what’s the number?” White said. “What’s it going to cost Conor McGregor before he decides ‘all right, this isn’t worth it, enough is enough, I need to stop doing this’.

“The incident in New York cost him millions. Millions he had to pay out. He had to pay the guy with the phone. What’s he going to pay this guy that he hit in the bar? The list just goes on and on. I just don’t know when he wakes up and says ‘I’ve got to stop doing this’.”