CONOR McGREGOR appeared to hit back at Liam Neeson after the actor astonishingly slammed the UFC star.
The action star gave an interview to Men’s Health in which one question was posed over whether he watches The Notorious or MMA as a whole.
CONOR McGREGOR appeared to hit back at Liam Neeson after the actor astonishingly slammed the UFC star.Getty Images – Getty
Liam Neeson called McGregor a leprechaun
Conor McGregor responded with a three-word tweet
Pulling absolutely no punches, the Antrim native then tore into McGregor as well as the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as a whole.
He said: “UFC (MMA’s premier promotion) I can’t stand. That to me is like a bar fight.
“I know the practitioners are like, ‘no, you’re wrong—the months of training we do …’ Why don’t you just grab a beer bottle and hit the other guy over the head?
“That’s the next stage of the UFC. I hate it.
“That little leprechaun Conor McGregor, he gives Ireland a bad name.
“I know he’s fit, and I admire him for that. But I can’t take it.”
Given McGregor’s tendency to embark in social media war of words, it was expected that the Dubliner would not wait long to fire back.
However, in an uncharacteristically subtle fashion, he fired back at Neeson with a three-word response.
He tweeted: “Irish proud – always.”
McGregor has more immediate concerns to tend to, both relating to the fight game.
The former two-weight UFC champion is set to return to the octagon in the near future against Michael Chandler.
Both men have been confirmed as coaches of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show.
That season will be used as build-up for a bout between the two, as confirmed by Dana White, although a date is not yet known.
Meanwhile, he has sensationally offered to facilitate Katie Taylor’s dream homecoming fight in Croke Park.
The Bray Bomber’s aspirations of having her first pro fight in Ireland were scuppered by an expenses dispute between Eddie Hearn and Croke Park.
Instead, the fight – expected to be against Amanda Serrano on May 20 – is set to take place at the much smaller 3Arena.
Earlier this week her promoter Hearn claimed that staging a bout in Croker would cost around three times as much as Wembley.
This claim was strongly refuted the next day by high-ranking GAA officials like stadium director Peter McKenna who stated that their rental cost would be around €400k while the London venue costs approximately €250k-300k.
It has since been widely reported that an even bigger stumbling block in negotiations pertains to additional costs around security on the night which Hearn and his people presumed would be covered by Croke Park.
In a twist to the tale, McGregor took to Twitter to offer his services – or, rather, money – in covering the difference.
He tweeted: “The extra security bill is 500k to have Katie Taylor fight at Croke Park? I will sponsor the event to see this happen.”
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for this to prompt a reply from Hearn who replied ‘Let’s talk ’.
McGregor then replied with an inquisitive tweet looking to glean as much information on the current issues within negotiations as he could.
“What’s the craic lad. Give me the current landscape. I’m in.
“Is this doable still? Or is it a double show, The Point first with Croke Park later in year, post the GAA season?
“I’m in either way. She better be getting her worth for this also.”