UFC superstar Conor McGregor has broken his silence over a video that showed him punching a man at a bar.
Last week, security footage emerged of the Irishman offering shots of his 'Proper Twelve' whiskey to patrons at a Dublin pub, before striking a man who appeared to have refused his offer.
On Friday, McGregor told ESPN's Ariel Helwani that he took full responsibility for what he described as "unacceptable behaviour".
"I was in the wrong," McGregor said. "That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did. ... I tried to make amends and I made amends back then, but it doesn't 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 in martial arts. That's not who I am.
"That's not the reason why I got into martial arts or studying combat sports. The reason I got into it was to defend against that type of scenario."
The Irish police are currently investigating the incident and McGregor said he'll accept whatever punishment that comes his way.
"Whatever comes my way, I will face it… I deserve it. I will face this head-on. I will not hide from it. I was in the wrong. It was completely unacceptable behaviour for a man in my position."
The pub punch was his second run-in with the law this year, after he smashed a fan's cellphone outside a Miami nightclub in March.
"I need to just stop reacting to the bait," McGregor said. "People are trying to bait me into things. Am I the fish or am I the whale? I must be calm, I must be zen. I must lead by example.
"There's so many people looking up to me. How can I react in this way? I need to get ahold of this and, like I said, I'm working very hard to do this."
In terms of his future in the sport, the 31-year old former two-time champion insists he's "eager' to get back into the Octagon and retirement is far from an option yet..
A return against Juston Gaethjhe in July was scuppered by a broken left hand, which he's since had surgery on.
But the winning performances of rival Nate Diaz and Stipe Miocic at UFC 241 last weekend have lit a fire in his belly to embark on his own comeback.
"Mine is gonna be the greatest one of all," McGregor said, who hasn't fought since his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.
He mentioned Diaz among a host of potential opponents, which included rematches with Nurmagomedov, Dustin Poirier, Jose Aldo and Max Holloway alongside first-up foes Tony Ferguson, Frankie Edgar and Jorge Masvidal.
"I must get my head screwed on and just get back in the game and fight for redemption, retribution, respect -- the things that made me the man I am, and that's what I will do."
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