Conor McGregor accused of breaking Italian DJ’s nose in Rome

A total of 10 witnesses were said to have seen the altercation

Dan Austin
Sunday 17 October 2021 19:09 BST
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Conor McGregor has been accused of punching a successful Italian DJ.
Conor McGregor has been accused of punching a successful Italian DJ. (Getty Images)
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Conor McGregor has been accused of breaking the nose of an Italian DJ in Rome with a punch.

The Irish UFC star had his son baptised in the Vatican on Saturday before the alleged assault on Francesco Facchinetti took place at a party later that night. Facchinetti claims that the incident was unprovoked and unexpected after the two had enjoyed time together throughout the night,

“[McGregor] attacked me without motivation after we talked for more than two hours and we also had fun together,” Facchinetti wrote on Instagram. “I could have shut up and not said anything to anyone, but since I’m here to tell it, I must say that that person is really violent and dangerous.”

Facchinetti is an immensely famous DJ with over a million Instagram followers, and has presented four series of the Italian X Factor as well as serving as a judge on the country’s edition of The Voice.

The 41-year-old’s wife Wilma also posted on Instagram about the incident, detailing the circumstances further.

“Luckily, he [Francesco] was very close so he [McGregor] couldn’t load up on his punch,” she said. “Francesco flew back, fell on the table, and then on the ground. The first thing that came to mind was ‘are we kidding? Is it a show?’

“Then I was paralysed,” she added. “I turned around and saw that his friends were holding him against the wall because he wanted to continue beating Francesco. Then they took him away. I turned on the light and the guards turned them off. Francesco was bleeding. I wanted to help him and the guards chased us away.”

McGregor has a string of previous legal issues and controversies, including a conviction for an assault on a man at a bar in Dublin in 2019 who had refused to drink a shot of whiskey which McGregor had insisted he drink.

The court was told on that occasion that McGregor’s convictions total at least 19 and date back to 2009.

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