The man allegedly punched by former UFC fighter Conor McGregor in an Ibiza nightclub was identified by club mogul Wayne Lineker as his ‘close friend’ and employee, Joe Gomez.
Lineker, 63, identified employee Gomez in a now-deleted post on Instagram where he said that he was ‘disappointed’ with McGregor for attacking his employee, according to The Sun.
Former UFC fighter Conor McGregor, 36, was carousing at the Pacha nightclub on the Spanish island of Ibiza on Tuesday morning when he was said to have struck Gomez for ‘absolutely no reason’.
‘This is my very close friend who has worked at Ocean for eight years,’ Lineker wrote on Instagram.
‘He has the most special heart and in all of the years that I’ve known him he has never raised his voice once.’
Entrepreneur Lineker said that Gomez ‘took two punches from Conor McGregor in Pacha for absolutely no reason’.
‘Let me introduce you to Joe Gooomez [sic]. He took the punches like a champion,’ he joked, according to The Sun.
‘To say I’m disappointed is an understatement,’ he added in more serious tone. ‘We at Ocean Beach Ibiza will always put our family first #wearefamily.’
Conor McGregor was on holiday in Ibiza where he has been partying alongside Wayne Lineker
Conor McGregor appears to punch a man at a club in Ibiza
McGregor had been enjoying himself for hours with the likes of Katie Price and Wayne Lineker, with glimpses of the evening captured by others and posted online.
He was seen in footage talking to a man before putting his arm around his shoulders on the dance floor at 5:53am.
McGregor appeared to speak to the man for a few seconds before appearing to strike him with his left hand, while holding a glass in his right.
McGregor, a former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, then appeared to land another blow seconds later.
The alleged victim appeared to fall to the floor.
McGregor has not fought professionally since 2021 and was protected by his entourage.
He was reportedly allowed to carry on partying while the other party was said to have been removed from the venue.
A friend of the alleged victim told The Sun: ‘Joe’s not said anything about pressing charges or making a formal complaint to the police.
‘He had some time off booked after the incident anyway, but Wayne has been very good at handling it.’
He said that Joe was ‘fine’ and there was ‘no injury’.
The scrap came just hours after McGregor was seen partying with Katie Price at Wayne Lineker’s famous O Beach club.
Price shared a picture of the pair on her Instagram page with the caption: ‘You legend,’ after McGregor tagged her in his own story and said: ‘Forever’.
Tottenham defender Kevin Danso also posted a picture with the former fighter on his Instagram.
McGregor appeared to speak to the man for a few seconds before appearing to strike him with his left hand
Conor McGregor lashed out at a reveller hours after he was spotted partying with Katie Price
The 36-year-old disgraced MMA fighterwas seen partying alongside Spurs star Kevin Danso
It is not the first time McGregor has come under fire for antics outside of the octagon.
In 2019, McGregor was filmed punching an elderly grey-haired man at his pub in Dublin.
The customer had reportedly declined a shot of McGregor’s own-brand whiskey.
Video from The Marble Arch Pub in Dublin and shared by TMZ showed the ordeal unfold.
McGregor had reportedly lined up cups for patrons, looking to buy a round of his Proper Twelve for everyone.
When the older gentleman refused, McGregor ‘downed a shot with the other drinkers, he unexpectedly threw his notorious left fist right in the face of the old man’.
McGregor later apologised for punching the man.
‘I was in the wrong,’ he said at the time. ‘That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did.
He said that he had tried to make amends previously, before adding: ‘That doesn’t even matter. I was in the wrong.’
MailOnline contacted a representative of Conor McGregor for comment.
