Exclusive: Francesco Facchinetti Details Alleged Altercation with Conor McGregor in Rome

A life dream turned into a nightmare for “DJ Francesco.”

Italian singer-turned-businessman Francesco Facchinetti made headlines after an alleged altercation with former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champion Conor McGregor. On Oct. 17 at around 1:00 a.m., Facchinetti, his wife Wilma, American actress Bella Thorne and her boyfriend, Benjamin Mascolo, joined a party hosted by the Irish fighter. Facchinetti said they were all “chilling” in a hotel meeting room for a couple of hours before McGregor allegedly hit him with a right-hand punch, leaving him wearing several bruises and a neck collar. Facchinetti, joined by his business partner, Swiss IMMAF president Luigi Perillo, detailed what happened that night at the St. Regis Rome hotel.

“We were f**king happy,” Facchinetti said of the atmosphere before the alleged incident. “Happy, happy! [I was meeting] f**king Conor McGregor, you know? Nice to meet you, this is Wilma, she’s my wife. Ben and Bella were there, there were other friends of mine, and then I met Conor’s Irish friends. I have the [telephone] numbers of those guys, I have the numbers of the bodyguards, I have the numbers of [those] people. You can understand that the situation was chilling.”

Facchinetti claims that nothing suggested McGregor was upset and that the Irish athlete punched him out of the blue after Thorne and Facchinetti announced around 3 a.m. that they and their partners were going home.

“We were around him, he was in the center. There was my wife, Ben, Bella and me at the time. I don’t know what was happening inside his brain,” he added. “Seriously, it was like turning it off. It switched off. I worked 20 years in discotheques and clubs, and I saw that [happen] many times. At night, everything can happen. His brain turned off. He punched me. I was a few inches [away from him] and the punch wasn’t [that] heavy, you know? He [hit] me with the right, I’m lucky it wasn’t the left one.”

After showing the inside of his bruised lip, Facchinetti stated that McGregor’s punch also broke cartilage in his nose. According to the Italian, doctors said he would have to wear a neck collar for 16 days. When asked if McGregor looked intoxicated by alcohol or other substances, Facchinetti didn’t take a clear position. However, he stated that there is video of the altercation and what happened in the room before that moment, and he hopes the hotel will release it. He concluded by stating that he went to the local police, who are conducting an investigation.

“I think if that video goes out, sorry for Mr. McGregor, but this is the last time he can punch [people] in normal life [outside] the Octagon. I’m waiting for the tape. I don’t want to say what happened in that room [before].”

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and now he covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.