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Conor McGregor’s Irish whiskey faces backlash over violence claims

Bottles of Conor McGregor’s Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey have been poured down the toilet in response to the professional fighter’s alleged violence against a patron in a Dublin pub.

Conor McGregor is the majority owner of Proper No. Twelve

A video published last week by US news site TMZ is thought to show McGregor punching a man in the head after he refused a shot of the fighter’s whiskey. The alleged incident, which took placed at the Marble Arch pub in Dublin in April, is being investigated by police but “no arrests have been made to date”, TMZ reported.

In response, Florida bar the Salty Shamrock has removed bottles of Proper No. Twelve from its shelves and even poured the whiskey down the toilet.

A statement posted on the bar’s Facebook page said: “Due to the recent cowardly and appalling [behaviour] of the so-called Irish professional fighter Conor McGregor, the Salty Shamrock Irish Pub will no longer carry his product nor associate its business with his name.

“We will discard his whiskey in a fashion [that’s] only fitting to his [behaviour]. I challenge every Irish bar owner to do the same! He is not a true representative of the Irish people.”

Speaking to TMZ, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White said McGregor “felt disrespected”, but added that as a “high-profile” figure, he “can’t” behave violently to members of the public.

“You’re talking about a pub in Ireland. You know how many guys get punched in the face every day in a pub in Ireland? Yeah, a lot. The only reason we are talking about it right now is because it’s Conor,” he said.

“These types of things happen all the time, but this is a high-profile guy and the bottom line is, when you’re not a regular guy, you’re a high-profile guy and a professional fighter, you can’t do it. That you can’t do. These types of things happen every weekend in pubs and bars everywhere around the world, but when you’re Conor McGregor, you can’t do it.”

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) champion McGregor launched Proper No. Twelve to sell-out demand in September last year. The brand has since grown its distribution footprint around the world.

After announcing his retirement from the MMA in March, McGregor said he would increase his focus on Proper No. Twelve.

The blended whiskey is created at the Old Bushmills Distillery in partnership with distiller David Elder. The name, Proper No. Twelve, pays homage to McGregor’s home neighbourhood of Crumlin, Dublin 12. Proximo Spirits distributes the brand globally.

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