Conor McGregor apologizes for homophobic slur

Conor McGregor watches replays after losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a super welterweight boxing match Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Las Vegas.  AP Photo/Isaac Brekken

UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor is known for being quite the trash talker to his opponents, but has always seemed to know his limits.

Yet, the 29-year-old Irish superstar has caught the ire of the LGBT community, after he was caught on camera using a homophobic slur to fellow UFC fighter Andre Fili.

The incident occurred in the backstage at UFC Gdansk in Poland on Oct. 21, after Fili dominated McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov in their Featherweight bout.

In an appearance on Irish TV show “The Late Late Show,” McGregor apologized for his words and clarified the incident.

“I was whispering in his ear and I was speaking on that and I said what I said,” “The Notorious” said. “I meant no disrespect to nobody of the LGBT community. I didn’t mean no disrespect.”

McGregor also made it clear that he voted “yes” during a 2015 ballot initiative which legalized same-sex unions in Ireland.

“You’d swear I was screaming at two people of the same sex kissing,” he said. “I campaigned, when we were trying to get same-sex marriage legalized, I was campaigning for that. It is another one where things just get blown out and they love to just, any chance they get they love to throw me under the bus.”

His employer, the UFC, meanwhile, has yet to make an official statement regarding the controversy, but McGregor believes pundits should not make it bigger than it really is.

“It is what it is,” he said. “I’ll just say sorry for what I said and that’s it and try to move on from it.”  Khristian Ibarrola /ra

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