Conor McGregor says he feels he was 'lied to' when he called for strict lockdown at start of pandemic

McGregor was replying to a tweet that called him out over a video he made in March 2020 in which he addressed the nation on Facebook while urging the Irish government to lock down the country to stop coronavirus spreading.

In the video he urged Ireland's leaders to do more to restrict the spread of the disease by enforcing a stringent lockdown.

He name-checked the president Michael D. Higgins, vice admiral Mark Mallet and the Garda (police) commissioner Drew Harris as he called on them to ground flights, close non-essential business, and enforce a lockdown.

The video was retweeted by a Twitter user who wrote: “Wow. This guy who just made 50 million for about 4 minutes of work in front of a sold out stadium is calling for mass lockdowns. F**k him. I’m glad your leg broke you piece of shit."

McGregor replied to the tweet by stating: “This was early 2020 when people where ‘collapsing in the streets’. I was scared for my family. I urged everyone to sit tight for a few weeks to see where we land. My opinion on this situation now is night and day to then.“

He adds: “I actually feel I was lied to originally. As where we all.”

In the original video he stated: "Hello everyone, hello Ireland — I would like to address my nation.

"While we are currently debating a full lockdown, I feel that we must," McGregor said.

"Anytime spent debating this is needless time from the clock. I know a good, tough fight when I see one, and we have one on our hands now.

"I want to call upon my people, the great people of Ireland … this fight needs us all. We are all in the red corner together, awaiting the bell. So let’s gather together and ring the bell ourselves, including the people from the rest of the world.

"True lockdown must begin, and it must begin now. A lockdown together. A lockdown united.

"We must close our airports, all non-essential business, all non-essential travel."

He went on: "We need to take the same measures as some of the heavier affected countries only we must do it in quicker time. We have the advantage here in that we can see this coming. We can see this coming!

"We are not adhering to social-distancing, at least not to the extent required to halt exponential growth. A lockdown would facilitate this. It will reduce transmissions, take the pressure off our front-line staff, and it will allow us to identify all of our cases.

"These methods are stringent but necessary and have worked in China and Hong Kong."

It was not the first time McGregor spoke about the coronavirus as he appeared to suggest his aunt had died from the disease. However, he later said her death was not related to Covid-19.