UFC star Conor McGregor has enlisted the help of the elderly Irish gentleman he assaulted in a Dublin bar as one of his sparring partners for his upcoming UFC clash with Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone, it has emerged.

The former two-weight champion attacked Desmond Keogh, a 50-year-old patron of the Marble Arch in Dublin, back in April this year, after he quite rightly refused to accept a drink of McGregor's vanilla urine-flavoured Proper Twelve Irish whiskey.

Video footage of the altercation circulated shortly after and showed an ego-bruised McGregor hitting Keogh in the head and, impressively, the Dubliner didn't even flinch.

McGregor was apparently so impressed with the Irishman's punch resistance that he has since brought him on as a sparring partner to help him prepare for his anticipated bout against Colorado fighter Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone.

"Yeah, he's got a great chin, a fantastic chin", McGregor affirmed. "Anyone who can take a shot off me must be a real beast, so I asked him if he'd come to camp and help me train.

"He said no at first, and I have to admit I nearly clocked him again, but this time I wasn't jacked up on the Devil's Dandruff and Proper Twelve, the best whiskey on the planet, so I calmed down and said I'd pick up his tab at the Marble Arch for the rest of his life when I beat that wannabe cowboy in January."

Keogh confirmed his initial reluctance to be anywhere near the 'Notorious One' again, stating "most of Ireland thinks he's a bit of a lousy fecker lately and I didn't really want to associate myself with him."

"After that little love tap he gave me I thought he was a proper gobshite, and a pussy. Then I realised, this guy's fighting in the name of Ireland and he can't even knock me out in a bar when I'm 14 Jamesons deep; he needs my help or he's gonna get choked out again."