Former UFC and mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor was arrested in France Saturday in response to accusations of attempted sexual assault and indecent exposure, for which a complaint was filed on Sept. 10.
The attempted assault allegedly took place at a bar, according to TMZ, but no other details about the incident have been confirmed. McGregor is being held in custody on the island of Corsica, where he was vacationing, according to reporting from TMZ Sports.
A spokesperson for McGregor said in an email to TheWrap, “Conor McGregor vigorously denies any accusation of misconduct. He has been interviewed and released.”
Audie Attar, chief executive of McGregor’s management firm, Los Angeles-based Paradigm Sports Management, said in a statement provided to TheWrap, “I am irate and putting out a warning loud and clear: Conor McGregor is not and will not be a target for those seeking to score a headline or a payday.”
Corsica officials published a statement to the Agence France-Presse newswire service Saturday, confirming McGregor was taken into custody. “Following a complaint filed on September 10 denouncing acts that could be described as attempted sexual assault and sexual exhibition, Mr. Conor Anthony Mac Gregor was the subject of a hearing by the gendarmerie services.”
McGregor is no stranger to encounters with the law or domestic violence complaints. In fact, the mug shot above was taken last March after he was arrested on a felony robbery charge in Miami after smashing a fan’s cell phone. The fighter was also under investigation for a reported sexual assault that was said to have taken place last year at a hotel in Ireland.
Though he retired from MMA fighting after winning a match by TKO in January 2019 against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in UFC 246, McGregor has teased a possible return to the sport, tweeting that he’d let the UFC’s drug testers onto his yacht to take samples.
McGregor won the UFC title for featherweights in 2015 and 2016, and lightweights from 2016 to 2018. In 2017, he suffered a rare defeat at the hands of American boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, a match which had a whopping $130 million prize pool.