Sexual assault allegation question avoided at Conor McGregor press conference

Many questions were answered during Thursday’s press conference with Conor McGregor in Moscow, Russia — mostly about his fighting future. One major question, however, remained unanswered by the time the microphones were turned off.

Of course, the MMA world went wild when the former two-division champion announced he would be returning to action in Las Vegas Jan. 18 against a to be determined opponent. But besides these details of his MMA career, there are alleged sexual assault charges — two in a 12 month span — against McGregor, though he has yet to be formally charged for either.

During the press conference, a reporter began to ask McGregor about the allegations and was immediately shut down by the host that shared the stage with the Irish star.

TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter was able to get the exchange translated and posted it via his Twitter account:

One overlooked part of Conor McGregor's press conference is this exchange between a reporter and the host, which I had translated by a Russian-speaking friend.

It takes place at roughly 2 hours and 5 minutes into this video: https://t.co/wSrkT4ItXz pic.twitter.com/3W1RNYWzEK

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) October 24, 2019

Journalist: Conor, my name is Annar. As an interviewer, I want to open you up about another point of view. Let’s move away a little bit from sports, from Khabib. You are a top, top, top sportsman. I’m interested in your relationship with the mass media. Often we see news of not a very good nature. It’s like ‘Conor McGregor assaulted a 20-year-old woman…’

Host to journalist: We don’t want to talk about it now. Look, act normally. I know you for a long time, act like a normal guy. Do you have another question? Let’s go to someone else. 

The exchange can be seen below at approximately the 2 hour, 5 minute mark in the video courtesy of Ruptly.

The most recent allegation against McGregor was reported last week by the New York Times. The report alleges woman in her 20s was sexually assaulted outside a Dublin pub earlier this month.

Following Thursday’s press conference, UFC president Dana White confirmed that the Jan. 18 date is being targeted for McGregor’s return, although the key details — including finding McGregor an opponent — are far from being finalized.

The frontrunners to compete against the sport’s biggest star are Donald Cerrone and Justin Gaethje, according to ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani. Recently, Cerrone has been attached to a rematch with Anthony Pettis, according to Pettis’ head coach Duke Roufus.

What do you think will come of this Conor McGregor situation?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/23/2019.