A celebrity Italian DJ and television presenter says he took his allegations that Conor McGregor punched him in the face to police.
Francesco Facchinetti confirmed with ESPN in an interview Thursday that he filed a complaint with Italian law enforcement several days after he claims he was struck by McGregor, the UFC star, during a party Oct. 16 inside a hotel meeting room. Facchinetti said he suffered a cut lip and damage to his neck, though he did not mention a specific injury.
“It’s something about ethics, and Conor is f—ing dangerous,” Facchinetti told ESPN. “This is a problem.”
Facchinetti said he has no desire to see McGregor put in jail for the alleged incident, but he wants to raise awareness about McGregor’s recent behavior, which also includes a skirmish that nearly got physical last month with rapper Machine Gun Kelly at the MTV Video Music Awards and punching an older man at a Dublin bar in 2019.
“He can do better than this,” Facchinetti said. “He can be better than this. What happens, he punches a guy tomorrow and that guy dies? What happens? What happens to MMA?”
A request for comment from McGregor’s team was not returned Thursday. Under Italian law, criminal investigations are not made public, according to Facchinetti’s attorney, Matteo Sergio Calori, who added that even he does not have access to the police report.
“Mr. Facchinetti made a criminal claim against Mr. Conor McGregor,” Calori wrote to ESPN in an email.
Facchinetti said he was at dinner with American actress Bella Thorne and her husband Benjamin Mascolo in Rome on Oct. 16. McGregor contacted Thorne and invited her and Mascolo to a party at the St. Regis hotel, Facchinetti said. Facchinetti and his wife also attended the party. Facchinetti said he and McGregor and McGregor’s friends hit it off and they were drinking and chatting for hours.
Per Facchinetti, when Thorne and Mascolo said they were leaving the party McGregor’s demeanor changed and he appeared angry. That is when, Facchinetti said, McGregor punched him in the face with his right hand. Facchinetti said McGregor was then pulled away by his bodyguards and the DJ was left with his face bloody. McGregor’s bodyguards then asked Facchinetti and his wife to leave the party, Facchinetti said.
Facchinetti said he and his wife returned to their hotel. After 35 minutes, he said he called the police and officers responded to his room. Facchinetti said he was advised by officers to go to the hospital, where he said he was told he sustained a neck injury. Three days after the alleged incident, Facchinetti said he went to a police station in his home city of Milan and filed an official complaint against McGregor.
“I’m sad,” said Facchinetti, who added he has worked with UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori and others in the sport. “I’m working inside the MMA world and I’m absolutely in love with that world.”
McGregor, an Ireland native, was in Rome for his son’s christening at the Vatican and to pick up his Lamborghini boat.
UFC president Dana White was asked about the situation last week at a news conference and declined to comment.
“I honestly don’t even know enough about it to comment on it,” White said. … “I haven’t talked to Conor, so I don’t know what the truth is. I don’t know exactly what happened. So to comment on it, I really can’t.”
Facchinetti said he was unsure if he would also file a civil lawsuit against McGregor and will wait to see what happens with police.
“For me, it’s not about money,” Facchinetti said. “I don’t care about money. I’m rich. I have everything. I have a wife, I have four babies. I have my life. If Conor McGregor wants to give me $10 million, [I don’t] care.”
