The Burren Public House, a pub in the Irish American enclave of Woodlawn in The Bronx, has taken to social media to explain why it won't be showing Conor McGregor's UFC rematch with Max Holloway on Saturday, July 11.
Dublin native McGregor, hailed as "the biggest star in UFC" by organizers, is returning to the Octagon for the first time in five years on Saturday night, headlining a 14-fight card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
McGregor's "comeback" is being staged less than two years after he was found civilly liable for sexually assaulting Nikita Hand at a Dublin hotel in 2018.
During the civil trial, Hand testified that McGregor choked her and she thought she was going to die, while a doctor who examined Hand after the assault found her tampon "embedded in her vagina."
McGregor was ordered to pay Hand nearly €250k in damages and pay her legal costs, estimated at up to €1.5 million. He has since lost his High Court appeal and Supreme Court appeal of the decision.
The Dublin jury's decision appears to be, for many, the nail in the coffin for their perception of McGregor. While a McGregor fight night in years past would be met with excitement in the Irish American community, one Irish pub in New York is proof that the tides have changed.
"A number of you have asked if we’re showing the Conor McGregor fight this weekend," the owner of The Burren Public House said in a July 7 social media post.
"We love the sport at The Burren and we’re always eager to sponsor local fighters.
"However, after consideration, we’ve collectively decided as owners to follow the lead of numerous Irish pubs, retailers, and boxing clubs that have chosen to dissociate from him after he was found civilly liable for rape and assault.
"Bars pay thousands to show these fights, and so it becomes in a bar’s interest to get as many of you in as possible to watch.
"But at what other kinds of expense?
"On a personal level, I’m not an attorney and I don’t presume to know anything about what’s in someone else’s heart or life, but I was very much raised by women and I am a proud father of daughters.
"Like many of you, I also grew up in a culture of absolute silence surrounding violence against women, sexual abuse, as well as the fear of public shaming for talking about it. And I’d rather not tell my daughters - or my son - or my mother who still asks Christ and the Blessed Mother to intercede for me each day that I made a few thousand dollars perpetuating that."
While The Burren disabled comments on its social media post, the message had drawn nearly 700 likes as of Friday afternoon. It has also been shared more than 150 times, both locally and further afield, with many applauding the move.
The Burren appears to be the only pub in the area in the famously Irish American neighborhood to publicly state that it would not be showing McGregor's fight. At least four Irish pubs in the Woodlawn area will be showing the fight, according to the UFC's 'Find a Bar' tool.
Some of those bars have been met with criticism as they advertised the McGregor fight on social media.
"Disappointed you're showing this guy's fight. Anything for a few quid i suppose?", one person commented on one Irish bar's McGregor post.
The UFC and Paramount+, which is exclusively airing Saturday's fight, have - perhaps not surprisingly- largely turned a blind eye to McGregor's civil trial.
However, during a pre-fight press conference on Thursday, McGregor was asked if he could understand why some people believe he no longer deserves the UFC platform.
"I am an innocent man," McGregor responded after a deep exhale.
"And I'll stand for my innocence until the day I go out.
"And that is still a situation where I fight. There's a reason it didn't go where it went and it went to a civil trial. It is what it is; it stings deep.
"I continue to fight. I know the truth. And I know that lying lips are an abomination to the lord. And I know that anything done in darkness will soon come to light. And I trust in God that it's coming. You best believe it's coming. And I look very, very forward to the day."
Meanwhile, McGregor's opponent Max Holloway is drawing some unexpected support from Irish and Irish American fans.
During an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, he was asked about a poster, crafted by Ferry Clever, that popped up in Ireland featuring him draped in a tricolor with the message "Do us proud Max Holloway."
"Shout out to that owner, because that's kind of crazy," Holloway said. "You got some balls on you to do that out there."
The Hawaiian fighter added: "I have the support of Ireland, I can feel it."
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